Football Dissected

It feels like its been a decade since Juan Román Riquelme last played for Villarreal. For those of you who don't know, Riquelme is probably one of the best passing midfielders in the game today, a man who can rival the best. He's not the quickest by any stretch of the imagination and in actual fact, he may be the slowest playmakers in the world today. But what he can do is sometimes absolutely spectacular, a wonderfully gifted player at the prime of his career.

The Argentina team is completely built around him. He's the captain of the boat, dictating the pace and rhythm of the game like a puppet master. He can slow the pace of the game down and then, in a moment of sheer brilliance, he can serve a wonderful pass to the likes of Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero, Carlos Tevez or someone else who can then go and score. And with the likes of Lionel Messi doing most of running, the Lazy Magican can sit back and analyse the field, ready for the next attack.

So where to now for the Lazy Magican? Atletico Madrid were rumoured to have the deal done to take Roman in the summer, but the deal fell through. There's no doubt that the big clubs are watching him as he plays in the spotlight for Argentina, outshining the likes of Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, Maxi Rodriguez, Cambiasso and even Agüero, who looks like the real deal in terms of a forward. Internazionale, Bayern Munich and Manchester United look likely destinations for the midfield maestro, but what about the MLS? Since David Beckham's arrival in the US and now with Ruud Gullit as manager of LA Galaxy, could the Galaxy or some other MLS team lure Juan Román Riquelme to the States with a lucrative, big money contract? We'll just have to wait and see.