Player Focus: The Evolution of 2014 Ballon d'Or Winner Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo’s claiming of a third Ballon D’Or trophy on Monday night has been widely regarded as fair recognition for a calendar year in which the Real Madrid and Portugal attacker played 63 games in all competitions, scored 62 goals and provided 21 assists.

Immediately after receiving the award Ronaldo said from the podium that his aim was to keep improving, and ensure he went down in history as one of the greatest players of all time. Speaking at the gala event both his club president Florentino Perez and agent Jorge Mendes suggested that he had already moved his sights to winning the prize for 2015 as well.

His latest personal award was sealed with a burst of form which was outstanding – even for Ronaldo – with 14 goals in just 6 games as the ballot papers were being considered last September and October. This followed the similarly stellar performances the previous autumn, which sealed the 2013 trophy, even as the voting period was extended to take in his amazing displays which carried Portugal through their World Cup play-off with Sweden to the finals in Brazil.

It is true however that Ronaldo travelled to Zurich on Monday in the midst of what looks by his incredibly high standards is something of a dip in form. A blank in last weekend’s game at home to Espanyol means he has not scored from open play in his last five games across all competitions (with his only goal in those matches a penalty in the 2-1 defeat at Valencia). Saturday was also the first time since September 2013 that Ronaldo did not score in an Estadio Santiago Bernabeu La Liga game in which he featured. The last time he netted the first goal in a game, not from the penalty spot, was in late November at Basel in the Champions League.

As AS editor Alfredo Relano pointed out on Sunday Ronaldo does seem to be playing with an “economy of effort” recently. Against Espanyol, Gareth Bale was actually, in a very rare occurrence, the Madrid player with the most shots on goal. Bale had 5 attempts to Ronaldo’s 4 – each of which were either blocked (3) or sent wide (1). The Portuguese had just one shot during his 30 minute substitute appearance against Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey the previous Wednesday night, a free kick that almost hit the corner flag.

Such an apparent anomaly led to a look back at Ronaldo’s stats over the Liga campaign to date. He has hit 98 shots in his 17 appearances so far in 2014/15 – the most of any player across Europe’s top leagues. He also leads the standings for shots on target (3.6 per game) and shots blocked (1.3 per game).

So Ronaldo continues to shoot from all angles and positions, and his phenomenal return of 26 goals in 16 La Liga games already suggests this policy is working. Looking deeper into the stats however, it is striking that of these goals, only two have come from inside the six-yard box, 22 within the rest of the penalty area (including eight from the spot) and just two from outside the area.

This means that of the 41 shots Ronaldo has taken from long range this campaign, just two have gone in. And both were down at least in part to goalkeeping errors by Deportivo La Coruna goalkeeper German Lux in September and Cordoba’s Juan Carlos on the opening day of the season. In the Champions League he is also yet to score from outside the 18-yard box.

Madrid have scored only one free-kick this season – Bale’s superb effort against Espanyol last weekend. That’s something of a surprise, given how CR7’s trademark ‘tomahawk’ free-kick has been a much-lauded feature of his game for some time.

Going back, Ronaldo has regularly scored from long range during his Madrid career. The 2009/10 campaign brought 8 goals from outside the area, and 25 from inside the box, across La Liga and the Champions League. In 2010/11 the breakdown is 8 outside, 38 inside. In 2011/12 it's 10 against 46. In 2012/13, six versus 41. In 2013/14, 7 compared to 40.

So just two this term from outside the penalty area, against 29 in total from closer range, does stand out. And calls for some explanation. The most likely reason is that the serious injury issues which hampered him so much during the first half of 2014 have had an impact on his game.

Both player and club maintain that the soon to turn 30 Ronaldo has completely recovered from the tendinosis issue in his left knee, but speculation began again when he was left on the bench for last week’s Copa game against Atletico. Ancelotti said after the game that the decision had been merely due to “tiredness” and denied any serious problem, but well-placed reports said Ronaldo himself was keen to “manage his efforts” in order to avoid any more complications with the knee.

The offside stats also suggest Ronaldo is spending more time closer to the opposition goal recently. He’s been caught offside 22 times in 16 La Liga appearances so far this term, after 45 flags in 30 games last season. In no previous campaign had he averaged more than one offside per game – 0.8  in 2009/10, 0.4 in 2010/11 and 0.9 in 2011/12.

Dribbles per game is another area where Ronaldo's stats show him to be perhaps exerting less effort in deeper areas. He has attempted 3.6 per game this season, down from 4.0 last. Further back his dribble attempt tallies were 4.8, 4.3 and 5.9 in his previous three years. Nothing conclusive here, but another sign of him working closer to goal.

A significant increase in the number of assists Ronaldo is providing to teammates also suggests an – undoubtedly positive – change in his game. The first-time knock-back for James Rodríguez's goal on Saturday was his tenth assist in the league and Champions League this season, with his nine in La Liga making him the third most prolific domestic provider across Europe's top 5 leagues. None of these ten assists was from a cross while only 1 was a through ball; they are mostly lay-offs close to goal, not from wide areas or deeper positions.

Ronaldo’s highest number of assists in previous campaigns is 15 (from both 2010/11 and 2011/12), a pretty good total suggesting it’s a myth that he rarely previously passed the ball. However with five months still to play, he is on course to easily set a new personal best in this metric during the current campaign.

Going back to the relative lack of goals during recent games, it is worth pointing out that Ronaldo also ‘suffered’ a similar fallow period 12 months ago, scoring in just two of seven games for Madrid through a period in January and early February. However, he then scored 22 goals in 22 games across all competitions from then until the end of the season (despite the aforementioned injury issues).

So the statistics, and history, suggest that Ronaldo is well set for another good year in 2015. The overall trend, though, is of a player who has become more of an efficient penalty-box poacher and provider, and less a scorer of fantastic solo efforts. A great goalscorer, rather than a scorer of great goals. Understandably, given his injury issues and age, his game is evolving over time.

What difference have you noticed in Ronaldo’s playing style? Let us know in the comments below