Mick Clegg says former Manchester United star could have been an “absolute stormer” of a player

Add as preferred source on Google

Mick Clegg says former Manchester United midfielder Anderson could have been an “absolute stormer” of a player.

Clegg spent 11 years at Manchester United as the club’s strength and conditioning coach, but the former Brazilian international proved to be one of the most frustrating players to work with.

Anderson, a Manchester United fan favourite, retired from football at the age of 31 two years ago.

He joined in 2007, from Porto as a 19-year-old to become the club’s second Brazilian player after Kleberson, he joined alongside Nani, and there was a real buzz and expectancy amongst the United faithful that we had poached the best two talented from the Portuguese top-flight.

The 2008 Golden Boy winner’s finest hour at Manchester United came in the 2008 Champions League final against Chelsea where he slotted home his penalty in the famous shootout win after being brought on in extra time.

Anderson quickly became a cult hero due to his energy and samba style dance moves and every time we faced Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, the former number eight’s song involving Cesc Fabregas was radiating amongst the United crowd.

But for a South American youngster who was tipped to be one of Brazil’s greats – a reluctance to maximise his potential through hard work and dedication irritated Clegg.

In an interview with the Athletic, Clegg revealed that himself and Sir Alex came to blows due to Anderson’s conduct.

“Anderson was the one,” he says.

“You could never find a nicer person – he was popular with everyone –but he was a lazy bleeder.

“He always had his excuses. I used to have a stick and I said to Alex Ferguson very early on, ‘If he carries on, I’m going to hit him with my bleeding stick’.

“Fergie couldn’t believe it. ‘Don’t you dare. He cost me a lot of money. You can’t be hitting one of my players, are you mad?’.

“Then six weeks later, Fergie came to find me. ‘Where’s that bloody stick?’, he said. ‘Give me that stick I want to hit him’.

“Anderson was more than capable of being an absolute stormer of a player. He just needed his head knocking. He didn’t keep fit.

“He chose not put in the work, so it’s hard to have too much sympathy for him. He was a party animal.”

Anderson played 181 times for United in all competitions, scoring five goals. However, he only received eight caps for the Selecao.

Injuries and fitness issues caught up with the Brazilian and both himself and Mick Clegg would be forgiven for thinking of what could have been if Anderson had conducted himself in a similar vein to Cristiano Ronaldo.