Let's compare a young skinny 18 year old boy who played half his PL career in a traditional 4-4-2 to a guy nearing entering his peak playing in a modern 4-3-3. Also let's not forget that young boy played against the likes of Terry, Carvalho, Gallas, King, Carragher etc who were afforded the license to kick the daylights out of him.
If you want to compare them, compare their PL peaks. and there is no contest.
Because we wouldn't have won a single PL title out of those 3 if Ronaldo wasn't playing for us. Compare that to Pool who had Salah all last season and they still looked wank. I would even argue that VVD is the best Liverpool player just for the sheer influence he displays in the way their team is set up.