Manchester United’s golden era under Alex Ferguson is often told through trophies and big names.
However, speaking in detail to ESPN Brazil, former youth defender Arthur Cunha has now shared what life was really like behind the scenes.
The centre-back spent two years going back and forth between Brazil and England after being spotted in 2006 by scout John Calvert-Toulmin. Twins Rafael and Fabio made the same move.
“When we arrived in Manchester, we shared the whole space at the training ground with the stars. We walked past them, they had lunch with us, greeted us, trained with us. We just could not understand what was happening,” he said.
For a 16-year-old Brazilian who did not speak English, the impact was immediate.
Cristiano Ronaldo ‘completely different from what people think’
Arthur reserved special praise for Cristiano Ronaldo, who at that time was entering his peak years in England.
“Many people see Cristiano and think he is closed off, arrogant. The experience I had was completely different. He always tried to help, to hug the boys. If you stop and think, we were 15 or 16 years old, did not speak the language, in a cold country, far from our families.”
Cunha went further in describing Ronaldo’s daily behaviour.
“He always made himself available. He would joke with us, train with us, stay close. When we went to lunch, he would come to our table, joke around, speak a bit of the language so we would feel more comfortable.”
Not everyone was as open. Arthur admitted some players were naturally more reserved.
“There were some more closed guys, like Giggs and Scholes. But Ferdinand was very playful, Van der Sar was very nice, Wes Brown too. Some just did not speak Portuguese and did not get as close.”
Confused with Vidić and life with Piqué
Another defender who impressed him was Nemanja Vidić.
“Even though he did not speak Portuguese, he was always very nice. When he arrived, he was out of shape, so he played a friendly and I played next to him.”
What happened after that match stayed with Arthur.
“At the end there was a funny situation. The referee came to talk to me, thinking I was Vidić because I had played very well. Vidić was not fully fit and was not giving 100 percent because he did not need to. I was giving 1000 percent.”
He laughed as he recalled it.
“It was funny to be confused with Vidić, a player of his stature and quality. For me, that was surreal.”
Arthur also shared a dressing room with Gerard Piqué, then on loan from FC Barcelona.
“Piqué was in the reserves team. Few people know he had a spell at Manchester United because he almost never played for the first team.”
According to the Brazilian, the Spaniard enjoyed life in England.
“He was not very focused. He was young, but he liked to enjoy life.”
Arthur then told a story that quickly became the headline moment.
“When we arrived at the training ground, we parked and went inside. One time we were almost late. We parked the car and Piqué arrived flying in an Audi TT, still wearing his night clothes, and went straight to training. People used to comment that he always did that.”
He believes Piqué’s mindset was clear.
“He knew that if he did not play at Manchester United, he would go back to Barcelona and could become what he became. I think he thought, ‘I will enjoy my life, do what I have to do, and when the loan (he wasn’t on loan) ends I go back’. And that is exactly what he did”.
Ferguson’s serious but supportive approach
As for Alex Ferguson, Arthur described him as harder to access but attentive when present.
“He had his office facing the training pitch. He watched sessions from there. When he came down, he would always come to talk to us, try to understand if we were enjoying it, to make us comfortable and adapt as quickly as possible.”
The message from Ferguson was simple.
“He told us to just have fun, not to create expectations or put pressure on ourselves. He said: ‘Just do what you know how to do. If you did not know how to play football, you would not be here.'”
Arthur summed him up in balanced terms.
“A very good guy, just a bit more serious. And you can understand that, because of his age and the professional posture he had to maintain. Imagine dealing with those big football figures and not imposing respect.”
Ultimately, Arthur returned to Brazil. Unlike Rafael and Fabio, he did not hold a European passport, which complicated matters due to foreign player limits at the time.
Still, as his detailed account to ESPN Brazil shows, his two years around that United dressing room provided stories that few outsiders have ever heard in such depth.