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Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players to have graced the beautiful game. He has dominated the footballing world over the past decade and a half and is still going strong. At the age of 36, Ronaldo capped off the 2020-21 season by winning the Serie A Golden Boot, scoring 29 goals from 33 league appearances.
His longevity at the very top has got a lot to do with how he has been able to evolve his game over the years. Ronaldo has played for Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. All four leagues are quite different from each other but Ronaldo has dominated all of them thanks to his versatility and ability to adapt.
Cristiano Ronaldo's greatest strengths are his ability to adapt and evolve
Age catches up with everyone. However, the very best can find ways to overcome those challenges by adding new features to enhance their game. Without further ado, let's take a look at five ways in which Cristiano Ronaldo's playing style has evolved over the years.
#5 Cristiano Ronaldo's defensive contributions have decreased
In order to become as productive and effective a player as he is at the age of 36, Cristiano Ronaldo has had to give up a lot of old habits. In his later years at Real Madrid, the Portuguese had shifted to a more forward role. He was becoming less of a ball carrier and more of a finisher.
These days, Ronaldo is far less involved on the defensive side of the game. He usually stays up to lead counter-attacks. But it's quite understandable for a player his age. The 36-year-old cannot shuttle up and down the pitch all game, week in and week out, and expect to be as effective in front of goal.
At his age, Ronaldo has had to sacrifice parts of his game in order to enhance his longevity. The tenacity he showed in making recoveries, which defined his early years, has had to take a back seat in order to facilitate more productivity on the other side of the pitch.
#4 Cristiano Ronaldo sprints and dribbles a lot less these days
In his younger years, when he was thriving at Manchester United and Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo was one of the quickest players in the game. He also had incredible dribbling ability. His quick-feet, burst of pace and incredible athleticism made him a nightmare to defend against.
In his early years at Manchester United, Ronaldo was often criticized for showboating. But his skill on the ball was undeniable even though the end product was lacking. He has changed that since and improved his productivity.
By the time he joined Real Madrid, Ronaldo was already at the top of his game. He attempted 6.2 dribbles per game in his first season with Los Blancos, and had a dribble success rate of 3.1. But a couple of seasons later, his attempted dribbles per game had dropped to 4.8 per game, of which only 1.9 were successful on average.
In his final season at Real Madrid, Ronaldo attempted just 1.9 dribbles per game. But at Juventus, Ronaldo has raised his dribbling levels by a notch and over the past year, he has averaged 1.68 successful dribbles per game.
It's still quite a departure from the Cristiano Ronaldo that we were first introduced to. His losing a yard of pace has definitely hampered his ability to take players on and beat them.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo has switched from a winger to a centre-forward
In his early Manchester United days, Sir Alex Ferguson used to deploy Cristiano Ronaldo as a right-winger. However, the Portuguese embarked on the best phase of his Manchester United career following the arrival of Carlos Tevez. Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo formed a deadly attacking trio and the three would interchange positions all the time.
Ronaldo would pop up on the left wing and centrally as well and he was scoring a lot more goals. He was in fact the top scorer in the 2007-08 Premier League season, scoring 31 goals. At Real Madrid, Ronaldo was used as a left forward and he was a menacing presence down the left flank.
But by the time he joined Juventus, age was starting to catch up with Ronaldo. He just wasn't as pacy as before. He improved his finishing skills even more and started playing as a centre-forward. His primary duty was to score goals and he has proved to be one of the best at it.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo has become a target man thanks to his incredible aerial ability
In his latter years at Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo was already getting real good with his leap. Over the course of the years, it has been an area of his game that he has put a considerable amount of work into and improved.
Traditionally, centre-forwards were expected to dominate aerial duels inside the box or hold up the ball and finish them off. The role of the centre-forward has definitely evolved over the years and it's more nuanced these days. However, traditional values can often help teams when they run out of other options.
Ronaldo's incredible vertical leap has now made him one of the most dangerous forwards in aerial duels. As his long-range shooting ability has dipped in recent years, his poaching skills have upgraded. Ronaldo scored six headed goals in Serie A in the 2020-21 season.
It is interesting to note that this is a measured move that Cristiano Ronaldo made. His set-piece and long-range shooting prowess had dipped considerably and he had to find a new avenue to score goals. He scored 36 goals in 44 appearances across all competitions for Juventus this past season. The results speak for themselves.
#1 Less involved in playmaking
Following his change in positions, Cristiano Ronaldo usually operates a lot more in and around the box than he used to. His playmaking had become a huge part of his game in his last couple of seasons at Manchester United. But playing on the left wing at Real Madrid, he became even better at it.
In his first season at Real Madrid, Ronaldo scored 33 goals and provided 11 assists in 35 appearances across all competitions. In the 2010-11 season, his numbers rose to 53 goals and 18 assists. He registered 15 and 13 assists in the 2011-12 season and the 2012-13 season, respectively.
But since the 2016-17 season, his contribution in terms of assists has dropped considerably. This has a lot to do with the change in his role and the focus shifting to scoring goals. In his first season at Juventus, Ronaldo still assisted a total of 11 goals in 43 appearances.
But those numbers have dropped considerably over the past two seasons. Ronaldo made just seven assists in the 2019-20 season. In 2020-21, he racked up just four assists. Cristiano Ronaldo has clearly become a lot less involved in the playmaking department and there is a clear shift in terms of the areas on which he is focusing.
