Juan-Roman Riquelme: 2002-2005
Appearances: 42 / Goals: 6
If you could choose one playmaker for your team to fill the period between losing Rivaldo and signing Ronaldinho, then choosing Juan-Roman Riquelme wouldn’t be a bad shout – unless your team’s coached by Louis van Gaal. The story goes that upon the mercurial Argentine’s arrival in Barcelona, coach van Gaal ‘greeted’ him with a replica shirt for his newborn son, along with the words, “he will get to wear his more than you wear yours.”
Riquelme’s signing had already been dismissed by van Gaal as ‘political’ before their first meeting and the coach made no attempt to hide his contempt for the unwanted purchase. Still sore from losing a battle over tactics and positioning with Rivaldo during his first spell at Barcelona, van Gaal’s second – soon to be disastrous – period in Catalunya had started by moving the Brazilian playmaker on for free, only to be ‘re-burdened’ by Riquelme’s arrival.
Keen not to allow a repeat of Rivaldo’s player-power showing and determined to break Riquelme’s resolve, van Gaal – in keeping with his own specific philosophy over everything approach – chose to persist with placing Riquelme wide-left in a front-three. This wouldn’t have been an issue for the likes of a Ronaldinho (or to a lesser degree, Rivaldo, despite this being the crux of his issue with van Gaal during their initial falling out) but for a traditional enganche like Riquelme who functioned best centrally within a team who utilised his creative passing and tempo-setting, it was something that blunted his effect and drained the confidence of an already introverted and sensitive personality.
Whether or not Riquelme lacked the desire to prove himself worthy of a role his talent deserved at Barcelona, or whether he was still upset with being ‘forced’ to leave his beloved Boca Juniors due to the Argentine club’s financial crises, van Gaal’s replacement, Radomir Antic, did little to change his standing in the team. He was offloaded after just one season to make room for the incoming Ronaldinho, loaned out to Villarreal for two seasons before making that switch permanent, as the Yellow Submarines built a team around his mercurial talents and reaped the rewards.
