people very concern about 1 bad season, but not another 17 very good to exceptional seasons that 1 bad season which majority of it, was not his fault
It was not all about 1 or 2 bad seasons, but note that those seasons with Barca (big team) could help him winning big titles like Liga and UCL ... where he could not with Villareal ... or so ... in reality Imagine he would win lIga, UCl and then Copa with Argentina? no doubt he will be ranked much higher - that's all
riquelme stat AS KEY PLAYER in MAIN KNOCKOUT TOURNAMENT: 1) 20 y.o. = boca juniors = 1998 world cup u20 = WON IT 2) 22 y.o. = boca juniors = 2000 libertadores cup = WON IT 3) 23 y.o. = boca juniors = 2001 libertadores cup = WON IT 4) 26 y.o. = villarreal = 2004 uefa cup = semifinalist 5) 27 y.o. = villarreal = 2005 uefa cup = quarterfinalist 6) 28 y.o. = villarreal = 2006 champions league = semifinalist = argentina = 2006 world cup = quarterfinalist 7) 29 y.o. = boca juniors = 2007 libertadores cup = WON IT = argentina = 2007 copa america = FINALIST 8) 30 y.o. = boca juniors = 2008 libertadores cup = semifinalist = argentina = 2008 olympic football = WON IT 9) 31 y.o. = boca juniors = 2009 libertadores cup = round 16 10) 34 y.o. = boca juniors = 2012 libertadores cup = FINALIST 11) 35 y.o. = boca juniors = 2013 libertadores cup = quarterfinalist stat: 5 times champion 2 times finalist 3 times semifinalist 3 times quarterfinalist 1 time round 16 NEVER PLAYED AS KEY PLAYER IN THE LOSING TEAM THAT LOSS IN THE FIRST STAGE OF MAIN KNOCKOUT TOURNAMENT (fresh example like pirlo & steven gerrard in 2014 world cup = loss in group stage)
when he was 29 y.o., 2007 Libertadores Cup Final vs Gremio (2nd leg)(away) (one of his best performance, scored 3 out of 5 goals in the 2 leg final match):
10-08-2014, roman played in argentinos juniors shirt vs boca unidos his goal was average but vital one (winning goal) his superb ball control & back pass
nice link ... Yeah Riquelme was the closest style of Maradona (skillful playmaker in center park) , while Messi is the closest one in dribble and a threat of scoring goals
believe me I watched a lot of riquelme from barca to Villareal and Argentina... but it's good to rewatch some of his clips ...
Riquelme was the last true #10 in every sense that we seen in world stage ...( stop at 2007) The small issue with him is that his style *like Zidane Laudrup Hagi ... required a whole team revolving around him at center in order to function at his best (seen at Villareal and Argentina 04-07)
same situation in argentinos juniors currently, they depending on him too much he play, they won when he didn't cause of injury, they draw 1, lose 1 currently they have played 3 matches so far in this season
I did not follow much of Argentina leagues no more ... but one can take WC2006 as example - take Riquelme off (too early) the team lost and same with Copa2007 without him ...
when he was 28 y.o., 2006 World Cup vs Serbia (argentina 6 serbia 0, riquelme only got 1 assist, no goal but man of the match, awesome)
he is already 36 y.o., after missed 3 matches cause of injury, he was fit to play vs Aldosivi (04-09-14) he is epitome of "old is gold"
his performance vs Colon (15-09-14) play like usual as superb playmaker, always in control, with good to excelllent passings, all over the pitch despite being lazy but sadly, his team lose 0-2, wasted several good chances by him
his 20 goals in libertadores cup (south america champions league) boca juniors top scorer in all time for this cup, top 10 scorers in all time for overall (5 goals missing in the video)