'I was in the Man Utd dressing room and saw the hierarchy among players with my own eyes'

Old Trafford could do with a leader like Cristiano Ronaldo around amid Manchester United's most recent slump in form.

At least Dimitar Berbatov may feel as much given his previous praise for how the former team talisman demanded respect from his peers. Ruben Amorim's side have suffered three consecutive losses ahead of Monday's Premier League match against Newcastle and are in desperate need of influential figures to halt their downward spiral.

However, The Mirror examined how the impact can be varied when a player rises above the rest in any squad. And Berbatov once shared how Ronaldo's mere presence and the way he went about his work influenced the behaviour of others around him.

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"In football, there is a hierarchy when someone like Ronaldo comes into the team, you give him the respect he deserves," he told The Mirror in 2022. "It is all there, all that he has achieved, and I think it's up to him to speak to the players and give them advice and help them develop."

Berbatov, 43, praised his former team-mate's professionalism and self-assured demeanour. According to him, Ronaldo "never missed a training session" and was "always sure of himself and his quality."

Ronaldo's first tenure at Old Trafford was marked by an air of confidence and dedication that evidently took hold with the rest of the team playing under Sir Alex Ferguson. During his first six seasons with United, he clinched the Premier League in half of those, as well as the Champions League, a FIFA Club World Cup, one FA Cup and two League Cups.

In 2008 -