The evolution of Cristiano Ronaldo's game over the years

Transfer to Real Madrid (2009-10)

Ronaldo’s time at Real Madrid has been full of goals

When he moved to Madrid, players like Kaka, Guti, van der Vaart and Xabi Alonso got more time and space on the ball, unlike at United, where he used to be the go-to player and got many more touches. This took him on a learning curve, pushing him to be more decisive and direct. In addition, he was played quite further up the pitch than at United, in a much more direct role.

He started receiving the ball on the halfline, near the left touchline, which would give him enough space to run in behind the opposing rightback and do his work. This is the trademark move he's used over and over again, throughout his career.Ronaldo took to the new role like a duck to water. Imperious as ever, he started running directly into the box with the goal and scored quite a few solo goals in that first season at Madrid. The goals from penalties, freekicks and setpieces kept coming, and despite niggling injuries in the first half of the season, Ronaldo racked up 33 goals in 35 games. This was to be the first time in his career he consistently became the goal-a-game player that he is today, the kind of goalscoring prowess that put him straight into Messi, Eusebio, Puskas and Pele territory.After an underwhelming World Cup, facing tough teams like Ivory Coast, Brazil and Spain right from the off, Cristiano returned reinvigorated from the off-season. I should mention this though - if this wonderful attempt had gone in, instead of hitting the woodwork (as might have been the case if the ball hadn't been a Jabulani), Ronaldo's World Cup campaign could've turned on its head.

Life under Jose Mourinho (2010-2013)

Back with Real Madrid, where Jose Mourinho had taken over and brought in Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil, stars from Germany's World Cup campaign, Real Madrid changed into a more stable, set, 4-2-3-1 formation, with Ozil or Kaka pulling the strings from the playmaker’s position and Di Maria along the right/left flank.

The crucial changes made were that Di Maria and Ozil were much more willing to play without the ball for extended periods, and were still able to play at the same level, even as they did thrive with the ball, in contrast to van der Vaart and Guti, equally talented but less versatile and hardworking. This allowed Real Madrid greater tactical flexibility and options.Mourinho changed the emphasis from free-flowing football to effective football. Where Real Madrid used to win matches bossing the game and shutting down opposition midfielders, they now became accustomed to sitting deep and allowed their opponents to give away the ball before hitting them with lightning-quick counterattacks, capitalizing on the pace of Di Maria, Ronaldo and Higuain. Ozil would be there to find the openings, which he did week in, week out, whereas Benzema played the role of the hold-up-and-play striker, also moving wide to create spaces in the centre and troubling opposition markers.

Kaka remained a key member of the squad, being introduced during games which required his pace, strength and his otherworldly distance-shooting prowess. Amid all these changes, Ronaldo remained the focal point of Mourinho's plans, so much so that Real Madrid became severely dependent upon his presence for goals. And boy, did he deliver! Playing in a similar style, albeit with much less defensive responsibility and receiving the ball in more dangerous areas, Ronaldo, true to his word, found new levels of consistency, scoring an unheard-of 40 goals in the league, tallying 53 goals for the season in all competitions. Under Mourinho's stricter tactical setup, Ronaldo spent much more of his time hugging the left-side touchline.

He continued in 2011-12 and 2012-13 in pretty much the same vein, with him knocking in 115 goals in 110 appearances over these 2 seasons for Real Madrid.In the latter season, one particular stat stood out: Cristiano scored 16 goals with his weak foot. To bring that into perspective, Olivier Giroud, left-footed striker playing upfront for Arsenal, scored the same number of goals in the entire season. His might have been the strongest ‘weak foot’ the world has seen in quite a while.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s heat map in a league game vs Real Sociedad in early 2013.

He continued his stellar work for Portugal, knocking in 3 crucial goals and spearheading them to a shootout loss in the semifinals of Euro 2012 against eventual victors Spain. By this time, because of the retirements of Deco and Tiago, plus the unavailability of Danny, meant that Ronaldo had to make do with Hugo Almeida and Helder Postiga for link-up play. The fact that he was still barnstormingly good in the tournament stands testimony to his ability to single-handedly influence games, notably, in the group stage game against Netherlands, which, again, is one of the all-time great performances in the history of the Euro Cup.

Carlo Ancelotti’s managerial tenure and role transformation (2013-)

Under Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid transitioned from a 4-2-3-1 to a fluid 4-3-3, with Benzema dropping off to give Ronaldo space in the centre, while Di Maria, in a free role from midfield, made his raids on the space vacated by Ronaldo on the left hand side many a time during the course of the season. A few months in, Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale started linking up in ominous fashion. His understanding and reading of the game allowed Ronaldo to play almost as a second striker, spending much more time in the centre of the field.

Wide ranges of concentration, and high concentration of touches inside the box.

The partnership between Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale is reminiscent of his understanding with Rooney and Tevez at United. Their extremely similar skillset and mindset took Madrid to a whole new level on the attacking front, making them more lethal than ever on the counter, as the passing abilities of Xabi Alonso and Modric set up the quartet of Di Maria, Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema perfectly.

They knocked in 41 goals in 13 Champions League games, setting a record in the process. Ronaldo himself tore apart the previous record of 14 goals held jointly by Jose Altafini and Messi in one Champions League campaign by knocking in 17 goals for the campaign. In fact, if not for injury, he might have scored more in the 2 matches that he missed in the campaign. All of this helped Ronaldo regain the World Player of The Year trophy for the year 2013.Unfortunately for him and for Madrid and Portugal fans, Ronaldo has not been fully fit for a long time, struggling with patellar tendinatis, a long-term condition that requires a lot of rest to heal his tendons completely. However, his ultra-competitive nature saw him play against Bayern in the semifinals 2nd leg, the Champions League final and even the World Cup grappling with the same injury. It obviously had an impact as Ronaldo couldn't use his powerful acceleration and sprint speed to beat defenders and create space for himself.He had, therefore, a disappointing World Cup campaign, with players in the squad getting injured and suspended left, right and centre. Still, he gave glimpses of exactly what he's capable of when fully fit.

Carlo Ancelotti made an astute judgement, turning this handicap into an advantage, and he has used Cristiano as a hybrid wing-striker, allowing him to rest near the centre circle to conserve his energy for attacks. Ronaldo’s predatory instincts, heading ability and clinical finishing enabled him to overcome an injury-niggled start to the season, and have shot him to 26 goals and 7 assists as a free-roaming striker, rubber-stamping his credentials for a second successive Ballon D'Or and the third of his career.

Perhaps his next great evolution will be as a pure no. 9, a role he thrived in, even while injured. May the force be with opposition defenders, as they will encounter a fox, wolf, lion and cheetah all rolled into one when they face a fully fit Ronaldo even in his 30s.