Former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker Chicharito joined Rio Ferdinand's show to reflect on his extraordinary career, the dressing rooms that shaped him, and the superstars he played alongside.

Chicharito: I would never call Ronaldo arrogant because I don't think many people truly understand him. Ronaldo always goes against the grain, against everything. He always fights for the underdog; he constantly has to push himself. That's why, when he achieves something and you ask him, "You've accomplished all these things, are you the best in the world?" he says, "Yes, I am the best."

But he says that because he has genuinely proven it. Society doesn't encourage people to praise themselves, because once you say you're good, others think you're arrogant. That's why I always felt that despite being so great, if he continued this way, he could become an even better player. Yes, he's already been excellent, but there's still room for improvement.

I think he could reach extraordinary heights. Anyway, let's get straight into it. Hey, Chicharito, my friend, how are you doing? How have you been? Thanks for making the time. Thanks to everyone. I know you've been trying to reach out to me.

You had a bit of a technical issue just before coming in. What happened? I was a bit worried. Look at that. Oh my God, worried? Come on, don't be silly. Alright. Good. And you? I'm just seeing you now. Wow, this angle looks great. Brilliant, mate. Brilliant. We're very lucky. Yes, we are very lucky. Hey, I see you everywhere in the media now.

I see you doing a lot of things; you must be very smart. When I see you on TV, I think, "Oh, that makes sense." Thanks, mate. Let's get straight to it and talk about your characteristics as a striker. How would you introduce Chicharito to someone who's never seen you play and knows nothing about you?

Off-the-ball movement more than on-the-ball play. Yes, of course, I need the ball to score, but my goals mostly came from close-range finishing or second-touch finishes, that sort of thing. Why? Because I think before coming to Europe, I was a more complete attacking forward in Mexico. I started my career as a winger and then moved to striker. That's why I developed this movement style from my winger days. When a winger is on the wing, basically they can't see anything behind them because it's the sideline; but you can see everything in front. So my movement was always more off-the-ball, or receiving the ball and doing one-on-one situations, crossing, shooting.

But when I joined your team, I realized that either I would take longer to fully express myself there, or I'd quickly adapt to what the team needed first. When you play with Wayne Rooney, you don't really need to do anything else—just let him orchestrate the match for you.

When your wingers are Ryan Giggs and Nani, you just need to give them an option. So my idea was to adapt as quickly as possible. Later I understood that what the team needed was the best option available. I receive the ball, he finishes, everyone celebrates. When Giggs does what Giggs does, you don't need to do much—just give him an option, you know.

So I tried to adapt first, rather than showcase my attributes or abilities. I just wanted to prove I could play in this team. Whatever the team needed, I would do it. You mentioned "movement" from the start, right?

Why did the team need movement at that time? For example, you needed to pull defenders away, create a threat behind the last defender. As long as I run into space, if the opponent doesn't follow, I can give you an option to go straight through on goal or create space. If the defender follows me, the defensive line gets stretched, and the gap between the midfield and defensive lines gets torn open. For Wayne, or for Park Ji-sung, Anderson, and any midfielder—Nani, etc.—space opens up. I think I observed that at the time.

For example, Berbatov was a very good striker, you know, but he played more with the ball at his feet. Of course, he could also make runs into space, and he was very quick at that time, but I'm the type of striker full of energy who loves to run. So I preferred more off-the-ball movement.

You can't stand still. Exactly. Even now, I can still make those runs. I've always been very dynamic in that regard. So that's exactly what I know I can do. But later I discovered that not many players played like me at that time, and fortunately, I succeeded.

So that's the reason. It's the movement. Is that movement innate or learned? Because some of the movement plays you just mentioned, like those runs from midfield into space behind the defense, are really excellent; but more often, when the ball is on the wing or around the box, those small movements where you might need to make two or three runs to get the ball—is that something that needs to be taught, or is it something in your body? It's instinct, a goal-scoring sense. Honestly, you can't teach it. Of course, you can learn certain things by watching other players, like the habit of making two movement touches—you can learn that—but making the right decisions while running, like my instinct telling me the ball will go to the near post and it actually does, that can't be taught. Because sometimes as a striker, you go to the near post first, but the ball goes to the far post. But when I joined you, I realized that more physical challenges were allowed here. Rio, for example, if I'm standing next to you, no matter how good your timing is, if you just use your arm to hold me, I can't move like that. Even if I try my hardest to find a way, it won't work.

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