Vidic on Rooney and Ronaldo

Manchester United icon Nemanja Vidic has claimed Wayne Rooney failed in comparison to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Vidic played alongside both players at Old Trafford and saw their careers progress from an early age.

The former United captain was full of praise for Ronaldo and the dedication he showed to improve and achieve success in the game.

And he believes Rooney had the talent to match but lacked Ronaldo’s mentality in terms of looking after his body and putting in extra hours on the training pitch.

In appearance on Rio Ferdinand’s Vibe with Five podcast, Vidic said: “You see Cristiano [Ronaldo] on Instagram, it’s all flashy stuff but he deserves it.

“At his age, 18, 19, to 21 to have that mentality to work hard, not go out, fight for your dream, the way he did it he deserves everything he got. For me, Wayne Rooney, he failed in terms of that.

“He is the one I think, if he was closer in mentality as Cristiano Ronaldo he can achieve much more. Definitely, that is my feeling.

“Physically he was amazing, technically as well. He is a great teammate on the pitch, him and Carlos Tevez, as a defender you want them on the pitch, they worked hard for the team.

“In one moment they are similar, the same. What brought Cristiano Ronaldo much higher was his mentality to change, to work hard, to improve, to have goals.

“I’m not saying Wayne didn’t have a mentality, but he played pure on his talent. He didn’t invest in his body, invest in extra training, the physical side.”