Riquelme: the Revaluation

Now that I think about it, the player most likely to have been affected by Riquelme's signing may have been Scholes. They could operate in similar manner, so one has to wonder if Fergie would have replaced one of his favourite player with the Argentine, who is a few years younger as well, tbf.

 

Riquelme was a fantastic playmaker, who perhaps left a legacy below the player he was. I said maybe. He is a legend at Boca Jrs and Libertadores, which is no small feat. But he could have had a better career in Europe.

Riquelme was one of the best playmares in the world in his prime (2004-2006). 97 touches and 3 key passes per game in World Cup 06 is great. 12 goals and 10 assists in 25 appearances for Villareal (2005/06) is great too. Leading the team to the ucl semifinals. 3 goals and 1 assist in 5 matches in the 2005 Confederations Cup. World class numbers for a playmaker.

His problem was the bad attitude. Always fighting with coaches, he should have been at the 2010 World Cup (he was the playmaker Argentina was missing), he fought with Maradona, Van Gaal, Pellegrini, at Boca he fought with directors, he left Villareal because he missed training. Because of his personality, he didn't have a stable career in Europe.

Here is an extract from his departure from Villareal (Chilean newspaper La Tercera Wednesday, February 28, 2007):

But i don't think you can say it was a wasted talent. It was the player's choice, he's a millionaire, icon in south america, other players don't exploit his full potential either (ozil, pogba, etc).

 

Okay, but Riquelme was also never the conductor or midfield general or whatever you wanna call it, of a great European team. Zidane was, and Xavi also was.

Do you see how shallow this type of discourse is?

 

Tbf, even ultra professionals who had a great season were not guaranteed a place in Maradon's crazy regime. Keep in mind both Zanetti and Cambiaso were left out of the squad despite a historic treble, and so was Lucho Gonzales who won the double in France.

 

So you talked about success and failure as a main playmaker, suggesting you cared about result, then when asked about it, you pivot to entertainment.

The word "entertainment" wasn't even mentioned once in your opening post.

If your entire point is that Riquelme is entertaining and that you enjoy watching him, no one's going to give you a hard time about it.