The genius of Pablo Aimar

Leo Messi: “A great player and one of my idols has announced his retirement. Thanks for letting us enjoy your magic!”

With the retirement of Juan Román Riquelme and Pablo Aimar, came a wave of acceptance that neither really ‘made it’. They didn’t ‘make it’ as what?

Of course, every young attacking midfielder in Argentina is immediately compared to Diego Maradona. Argentinian football is so utterly consumed with finding the next footballing deity and is almost begrudging of the success of Lionel Messi after his early departure to Spain.

Neither became Maradona the second. But they were still absolutely exquisite.

Riquelme and Aimar – both ‘next Maradonas’ – were both supremely talented footballers who fell victim to developing tactical trends that exposed and exacerbated the few weaknesses in their game. The number ten role underwent a transformation that left the Argentine pair redundant as symbols of a bygone footballing epoch.

Enigmatic, stylistically iconic, yet under-valued, Pablo César Aimar Giordano receives less literary attention than his great friend Riquelme, despite arguably achieving more in the European game.

His style was dainty, making almost secretive movements as he glided around the pitch; these movements were planned well in advance. His ability to read one-two situations around defenders and create space by feigning movements left opponents embarrassed with frequency.

Aimar became the definitive ’10’, moving into spaces and controlling the ball with consummate ease. Maradona himself remarked that Aimar would be the only player in world football he would pay to watch. At the same time, Lionel Messi idolised El Mago at La Masia; studying his ability to retain possession and work intricate passes around defensive groups.

It was in Buenos Aires that Aimar developed his reputation as the ‘new Maradona’. His performances for River Plate were consistently excellent, his goals often a thing of beauty. Aimar won three titles, the Apertura in 1997 and 1999 and the Clausura in 2000 with Los Millonarios.

Iconic moments include a delightful lob scored against Boca in the 1999 superclásico, and an arcing free-kick – one of many in his career – scored in a 4-4 draw against Flamengo of Brazil in the 2000 Copa Mercosur, a forerunner of the Copa Sudamericana.

International success came too, in the 1997 Under-20 World Cup in Malaysia, as Aimar and Riquelme were joined by Walter Samuel and a sixteen year old Esteban Cambiasso. Argentina won the tournament, with memorable victories over England, Uruguay and particularly Brazil. The quarter final against their greatest rivals was watched by 35,000 people.

Aimar left El Monumental as a hero of the River barras; while his transfer ultimately represented yet another indication that South American football was becoming nothing more than a farm for Italian, English and Spanish clubs to plunder.

Arriving as a 21 year old in Valencia, Aimar received a great deal of attention. He was subject to the biggest fee ever paid to an Argentine club in January 2001 and was immediately installed into a side that had reached Valencia’s first Champions League final in 2000.

Following Valencia’s success, star players Claudio López and Javier Farinos departed for Italy and Gerard turned down Manchester United to return to Barcelona.

Aimar, alongside other notable arrivals Roberto Ayala and Rubén Baraja, helped Los Che to their second European final in two years. Knockout victories over Arsenal and Leeds United sent Valencia to the San Siro, only to lose again, this time against Bayern Munich on penalties.

This new Valencia side had already established a memorable era in the club’s history, although not without upheaval – the side that lost to Bayern in 2001 had seven new players, Aimar included, compared to the side that had been beaten 3-0 by Real Madrid in the previous year.

Over the next three seasons, Aimar played with regularity, although beset by a number of slight injuries that would later have serious effect on his career. Slight, quick, agile; susceptible.

As Héctor Cúper left Valencia for Internazionale, a new manager came to Valencia to manage both Aimar and the expectation of the Los Che fans who had become accustomed to success and inspiring football.

The man who best understood Pablo Aimar was Rafael Benítez.

Benítez protected Aimar and gave him the freedom to drift around pitches with little regard for defensive responsibility. He was allowed to find spaces and create angles. He was the central cog in the Valencia countering machine. Surrounded by Curro Torres, Albeda and Baraja, Aimar wove webs of one-two passing manoeuvres.

As the ten in a classic Spanish 4-2-3-1, he had defensive protection, which Benítez only added to through the use of commanding lone forwards in John Carew and Mista.

Under Benítez, Valencia threatened the superiority of Barcelona and Real Madrid by winning two Primera titles in three years. Combining a talented group of players and the individual class of Aimar, who at the time enjoyed his best years, Benítez’ team exorcised the demons of Paris and Milan by claiming the 2004 UEFA Cup.

It was this success, along with the inspiring team performance that Valencia had produced against Liverpool two years earlier, that saw the Spaniard appointed at Anfield.

With Benítez gone, Aimar struggled in Claudio Ranieri’s second spell at the Mestalla. Considered too lightweight (correct) and even lazy (an unfair description of his lethargic style), Aimar was limited to making substitute appearances and the team that Benítez had built around the Argentine slowly disintegrated.

The question ‘what if he’d followed Benítez?’ is not frequently uttered on Merseyside, but surely it is worth imagining a midfield of Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso and Aimar supporting Fernando Torres during the mid-late 2000s. Perhaps he’d have started ahead of Harry Kewell during the 2005 Champions League Final.

Valencia’s successes were not simply the work of the Spanish manager and his diminutive protégé, Héctor Cupér and his late 90s team created a foundation that threatened to rock the two powers. But in Aimar, Valencia had an individual who had the technical ability and forward thinking to unlock the best defences in Spain and Europe. As he regressed, so did Valencia.

Aimar stayed on for two years while his career lost momentum. A brief spell with Zaragoza saw a sixth placed finish and then relegation, before a move to Benfica followed. Aimar again shone in Portugal where his class rendered lesser opposition powerless.

As the European game began to evolve, with the influence of Bielsean pressing and then Klopp’s Gegenpressing growing, Aimar’s roaming, almost lethargic later career style became more an elegant reminder of his bygone class than a practical tool for winning continental trophies.

Benfica fans were treated to a five year swansong before Aimar returned to River for an injury plagued final year in which he made only two appearances before retiring.

Aimar is a charming individual and was a charming footballer. The sense of ‘what could have been’ for him and his great friend (and rival) Román Riquelme only adds to the interest that football fans invest in the pair.

Neither Riquelme or Aimar invented or re-invented the #10 position. Neither claim to, either. However, there is something so charming about the pair, particularly about Aimar. As a boy he revelled in being adored by the River fans. His determination to please them made him all the better as a player. He was visibly moved when he returned to make his final appearances this year.

His attitude towards the game and the fans that support it holds strong resonance with me. Combine that to his wonderful abilities, he becomes a personality that is easy to admire.

With the ball at his feet, his ability to pass, create space and score some quite outstanding goals made him a favourite of every club he played for. Cited as Lionel Messi’s key influence, Aimar’s importance will again be revisited in the many volumes that will be written on the former.