The Training That Changed Cristiano Ronaldo’s Game | Rene Meulensteen
The High Performance Podcast
High Performance
4.8 • 4.7K Ratings
🗓️ 26 November 2025
⏱️ 36 minutes
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Summary
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What if one word could unlock potential, or shut it down completely?
When Rene Meulensteen coached Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United, he didn't start with tactics. He started with language. The words he chose made the difference between a player who could score goals and one obsessed with scoring them.
In this episode, Damian explores the essential habit that separates good coaching from greatness: mind your language. Discover why Rene never said "change", only "add." Learn how Sir Alex Ferguson's flip chart philosophy shaped United's dominance. And find out how a Roger Federer moment transformed their Champions League campaign.
Featuring insights from psychology (the famous Loftus & Palmer study on how words reshape memory), plus behind-the-scenes stories from United's golden era, this episode reveals how elite performers use language to frame reality, lower threat, and spark possibility.
Together we explore:
- Why "change" triggers defensiveness, and what word opens people up instead
- How Ronaldo transformed into a goal-scoring machine
- Ferguson's "if that doesn't work, we gamble" mentality
- The myth of the hairdryer treatment, and what really happened at halftime
René reminds us that high performance isn’t just built on drills and repetitions, it’s built on the words that shape how people feel, learn, and grow.
If you’ve ever wanted to give better feedback, build trust faster, or help someone reach a level they didn’t know they had in them, this conversation with René is worth your time.
Listen to the full episode with René Meulensteen: https://pod.fo/e/2bd0c6
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The biggest time that I spent with Christiana was when he got suspended. |
| 0:07.2 | I said, you want to be the best player in the world. |
| 0:09.1 | He says, am I wrong? |
| 0:10.1 | He says, no, you're right. |
| 0:11.3 | So you know where you are, you know where you want to go. |
| 0:13.5 | What do we need to do to bring you closer to what you want to achieve? |
| 0:19.5 | Welcome to the essential habits of high performance, the podcast where we explore the |
| 0:24.7 | small things that make a big difference. Now today I want to start with something very simple, |
| 0:30.4 | a single word, change. It sounds harmless enough, don't it? But as we're going to hear, |
| 0:35.9 | that word can shut someone down before |
| 0:37.7 | they even have the chance to grow. When René Moulenstein reflects on his years coaching at Manchester |
| 0:44.2 | United under Sir Alex Ferguson, he doesn't talk about tactics or formation. He talks about the power |
| 0:51.0 | of words. And he insists that the language you use with people can be the |
| 0:55.9 | difference between unlocking their potential and shutting it down too early. Hey, I'm Damien Hughes and |
| 1:03.6 | I've spent the last 25 years of my life doing a number of roles, including being a visiting |
| 1:08.8 | professor of organisation behaviour, her trusted |
| 1:11.4 | advisor to many leaders within the world of sport, business and the arts, and the last six years |
| 1:17.5 | as a co-host of the High Performance Podcast. But above all, though, my passion is about looking |
| 1:22.6 | to help create, shape and curate high-performing cultures. I love exploring how high-performance can work |
| 1:29.5 | and, more importantly, how every one of us listening can take the lessons from our guests and |
| 1:34.5 | apply them into our own world. René Moulenstein spent over a decade at Manchester United, |
| 1:43.1 | working alongside Sir Alex Ferguson during the club's |
... |
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