There are multiple version of Ronaldo, from the baby face trick pony, world class winger, false 9 United, complete player, complete forward, to the poacher he is today.
Agree with this description. For me there are 4 main stage/version of Ronaldo
03-06 - talented trick pony
- the most talented version of him, probably the most exciting young talents I’ve ever watched
- very very skillful, full of tricks and electrifying performances
- George Best once said he felt it’s compliment to compare this Ronaldo to him, this is indeed very high praise from someone who is regarded as one of the most talented footballer ever
- tendency to dive, becoming more of show pony, subject to poor decision making at times, with little end products
06-09 - worldclass winger with end products (goals+assist)
- this is the one who combined skills, goals and assists perfectly
- arguably the most exciting version of him, full of tricks, and full of goals and assists, beautiful skills and goals, and playing at very high tempo, can do everything on his own
- become truly worldclass player, winning his first ballon D’or too (should have won 2, he is clearly better than Kaka throughout the season, but KaKa won CL in the end with great performances too)
09-14 - complete forward with everything
- at his physical peak, a beast in everything, unstoppable and keep driving his team forward throughout the matches, with perfect balance of pace, strength, skills, tricks, athleticism and goals
- insane number of goals, combined with memorizing performances
- consistency throughout
- coincide with same period of competing with peak Messi supported by peak Xavi/Iniesta at peak Barca team, hence enjoy less success trophy-wise
- imho this is the best version of him, truly playing at GOAT level performance-wise, I’d have this version of Ronaldo over anyone else I’ve seen in football, but not the most successful version of him as he can’t really beat the Barca golden trio all by himself.
14-present - worldclass striker/poacher
- most efficient version of him, maintain very high return of goals and high level of consistency
- developed great off ball movement, turning more into goal poacher instead and become less involve in buildup play, and more conservative
- doing less dribbling, running less with the ball, focus more on running into box poaching for goals rather than everything else, scoring a lot of goals but regress in his all round play, hence he was often symbolized as “hardwork” over “talented”, as oppposed to his earlier career
- most clutch version of him, scoring a lot of big goals in big matches, becomes truly a big game player and match winner
- has very big impact on winning games and trophies for his team, especially with his goals
- his metal aspect of the game is probably second to none throughout this period, very determined and composed, develop big presence and leadership on the pitch
- enjoying most successful period of his career, breaking records after records, winning trophies after trophies, and winning all those biggest ones too