That's long been my point amongst many. I'm not taking anything away from Ronaldinho as he is that skilled and that fast. However making such claims of greatness when his only successes have been when he is surrounded by excellent players should speak volumes. Gremio nor PSG benefited in no way from Ronaldinho having played there other than in the terms of transfer monies. It's the same gripe I have about Zidane. The bar for greatness imho has greatly been lowered since the advent of the internet/cable/satellite......Again not to take anything away from Rony and Zizous as their is no disputing the skill and beauty with which they played the game but what have they done for their teams to warrant greatness?
Whatyou need to do is rewatch the wc2006, riquelme wasnt nearly as impressive as you're making him out to be. And show proof where unbiased articles rated riquelme's performances over zidane's. I'm sure Villareal desperately missed him when they finished 5th in la liga last year (two spots higher than with riquelme on the team) and this year sitting in 2nd place
I never made claims of a El Diego type performance but he did clearly outplay the other mentioned players. You want to view unbiased articles then you can spend the time googling them. I wouldn't pull such claims out of my ass for no reason. You doubt then your entitled to prove me wrong. PSG was better after Ronaldinho left so how can you hold Villarreal against Riquelme yet ignore Rony and PSG?
They made a great team even better. Riquelme is a different type of player. He needs the team built around him, otherwise he is absolutely ineffective (ie Barca). And for your info, France were atrocious without zidane in the qualifying stages for the wc2006. Zidane came out of retirement and they went on to win their qualifying group, and runners up in a little tournament called the world cup.
ill take it you cant find such said articles. You are the one that claimed of all these articles so show some proof.
The French NT were without question more reliant on Zidane than Brazil were Ronaldinho I've never stated to the contrary. However Zidane for his clubs never really raised the level of the players around him nor has he had to carry those teams. That's my point. As for Barca, you really are showing your ignorance here. Riquelme's purchase was a boardroom move to influence an election. Louis Van Gaal while an excellent coach in no way wanted to sign Riquelme. Van Gaal was old school system over player and he made it very public he didn't want a Riquelme type on his side. The end result was he was played as a winger Riquelme is not nor ever was or will be a winger. But since you're convinced he failed at Barca, point out why your opinion outweighs the facts?
Conclusion ... Phil80 dislikes Riquelme and puts him far away on the list of "different" kind of players. So be it. He is entitled to his opinion and nothing will make him change it. Yet, for most of us, he is flat wrong and that is where this stands. To have Roman's most tenacious critics, in the press at WC06, now praise him as absolutely necessary in the team, and point out Pekerman's errors in that WC is enuff vindication to Roman's performance at WC06. There is a "world" of difference in being able to read and hear the press in Argentina on a daily basis as oppossed to not being able. There is even a greater difference in understanding South American Cup competitions and its relevance in the world of football. .
Great to see you miss the fundemantal point, yet again. If you wish to pass comment about both players then you need to be consistent. You cannot try to belittle Riquelme for Villarreal not missing him when exactly the same thing happened to Ronaldinho, the player you are currently trying to promote. The return of Makelele and Thuram had more of an impact. Plus Zidane did very little in the WC, as usual.
Your argument holds no water. Riquelme made his run with these 'less powerful' teams during his prime, Ronaldinho and Zidane were already playing with superclubs during their prime, they never got the chance to show if they can carry a villareal during their prime. Would you put the same standard on messi or krkic, they too will never get the chance to carry a mediocre team during their prime, so no matter what they do, they can never be compared to riquelme? Makes absolutely no sense.
No, you made the statement so you support it. Not you make a ridiculous statement and I try to break it down.
It totally holds water son. What we do know is that when Rony had the chance to carry some nobodies, he didn't. In the event Riquelme ends up at a big European club and continues to do what he does it further proves my point. For the exception of Barca which any knowledgable fan would never hold against the player Riquelme has been that much of a difference maker on every team he's played on. When Riquelme was in his early 20's he was abusing the likes of Makele and MacManahan in Japan. As for Messi, he's still many years off his prime. For all we know he could end up at anther club in 2=3 years time. This is modern futbol after all and most players these days are whores.
Once again your arguement makes no sense, you just said riquelme ends up at a "big European club" but on the first page you claimed Villarreal "was on a good day an average side with zero history to look back upon." Completely contradictory. As for Ronaldinho, Zidane, they hit their peak while they were playing on a big club, so we will never know if they couldve carried a mediocre team during their prime, as riquelme did with villareal (in his prime). On the contrary, riquelme failed at a big club (barca) and had only one good season and one good CL with a european club, nothing to drool over.
Prove it wrong. What exactly did Zidane do in '98 other than stamping on a player for a red card and then only showing up for one match, the final? One good match out of seven is not good enough. France can be thankful that their defense carried the entire side. In '02 in played a single match as France crashed out goalless and disgraced after three matches. What about '06? He played one and half good games and then retired in disgrace after getting a red card for a headbutt. His World Cup record flatters to deceive.
So I am guessing this is the pointless debate section? By the way Riquelme had two great seasons with Villareal. This is a fact.
Read the part that clearly says "in the event Roman ends up at a big...."and again only someone little knowledge of the games recent history would keep bringing the Barca thing up. Even Barca fans don't feel the way you doRIF, reading is fundamental.
barca fans wanted him to succeed and like i said in a previous thread, even when riquelme drifted in the middle with barca he was largely ineffective. There are no two ways around it.
I dont have the time or energy to prove what a ridiculous statement that was. Anyone with reasonable footballing IQ understands the impact of zidane during wc 98, a CM doesnt have to score to be effective. But if you want to talk about goals wc 06, zidane was their offensive machine scoring in every match after the knockout phase and the one game he didnt score was against brazil, which his performance went down in history. To say anyone was more influential than him in this tournament is plain delusional.
So this is the "nth" Zidane debate thread? It is not enuff to have Dinho, Kaka and Riquelme on the title? .