Manchester United legend Gary Neville says Cristiano Ronaldo 'looked like a little boy’ in manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's previously preferred 4-2-3-1 formation.
The United boss has been under pressure in recent weeks following a downturn in the club's form but responded by switching to a 3-5-2 formation for the 3-0 Premier League win against Tottenham, earning in the process just their second clean sheet in 22 games.
And following the success, the new system remained in place for the Champions League tie against Atalanta on Tuesday night, until Raphael Varane's injury saw Solskjaer forced into switching to a four-man defence.
Neville believes the formation change was 'not Ole's plan' but made to get the best out of Ronaldo, telling Sky Sports: Leaving Sancho, Rashford and [Mason] Greenwood on the bench is not the plan.
"That wasn't the plan in the summer for the recruitment. It wasn't the plan in the summer for Ole. It wasn't how he was thinking he was going to play.
"He's played 4-2-3-1 in the last 37 matches, so it's not his [long-term] plan to go 3-5-2. But the change of system did look like it suited Ronaldo. It took the pressure off him from a defensive point of view.
"Up against three centre-backs at Leicester then against Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate last week, he looked like a little boy. But on Saturday, he looked like it suited him perfectly to play in those moments."
