Ronaldo on Carlo Ancelotti: 'He's like a big bear ... He's a cute guy'

Real Madrid icon Cristiano Ronaldo has fond memories of playing under manager Carlo Ancelotti.

The Portuguese forward recently explained that while the Italian manager came into the Santiago Bernabeu with a champion's reputation, what Ronaldo and his teammates witnessed wasn't what they were expecting.

"Mr. Ancelotti was an unbelievable surprise. In the beginning I thought he was more a tough person, more ... kind of arrogant, and it was the opposite," Ronaldo told ESPN FC. "He's like a big bear, I can say. He's a cute guy, such a sensitive person. He spoke with us every day. Not just with me but with all the players. He had fun with us.

"He's an unbelievable person. I just wish every player could have an opportunity to work with him because he's a fantastic guy, a fantastic coach and I miss him a lot because we won many trophies together. And I wish to work with him one day again. But now I'm good. I have a new coach and I'm happy too, but it's great I have good memories."

Under new boss Rafa Benitez, Ronaldo has been as dangerous a player as ever, but rumours of his discontent persist. However, Ronaldo said those reports are rubbish, and despite playing more centrally up top rather than out wide on the left wing, he's still comfortable with Benitez.

"It's always different. When it was Mourinho or Alex Ferguson, Pellegrini ... Everyone has his own style, own system, and we still adapt," Ronaldo explained. "For example, now to Benitez's style. But I feel comfortable because most of the time I play my position, so for me it is not going to be a big deal. I feel comfortable anytime on the pitch. I play free always and I feel good.

"I just try to take the most important things of every coach. Not just Sir Alex Ferguson, but Pellegrini, Mourinho, Ancelotti, and now with Benitez and the national team coaches too. I think everyone has different styles and different opinions. They are different people. So I just pick the best things of them. I am the player that I am today because of course the coaches helped me a lot."

Benitez is Ronaldo's fifth manager in seven years at the club. Adapting to another new system, Ronaldo said, is "sometimes not easy."

"If you keep changing all the time it's hard," Ronaldo said. "I don't like when they change, or they sell or buy players every year, or they change coach every year. Because I think sometimes you need time to know each other, to know the coaches.

"It's the only way that you can improve yourself in terms of individual or collective too. For the team to be consistent. To change all the time is difficult because you have to adapt to other players (who) have to adapt to you. So it's hard.

"I'm not a huge fan of when they change all the time but it's part of the business. The market is like that. They sell, they buy players. So you have to adapt to that. And Real Madrid is a club that buys a player every year, so we have to adapt to that."