Inside Football: Did Ronaldinho Make and Break Frank Rijkaard?

I.F. is back, and this time the debate is around former Barcelona manager and Dutch player Frank Rijkaard.  

Frank Rijkaard was seen as a savior in the eyes of Barcelona fans when he stepped in as new manager of the Catalan club in 2003–04 season and turned the club's fortunes around.

Barcelona was living in Real Madrid's shadows in the early 2000's. However, Rijkaard revived the hopes of his side and drove the team from mid-table muds into a good second-place finish.

In the following season, Rijkaard built a strong team around Ronaldinho and then new signings Deco, Ludovic Giuly, and Samuel Eto'o.

The Dutch tactician worked with a 4-3-3 formation on the pitch and it brought his club great success, allowing Barcelona to win La Liga in the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons.

Barcelona's 2005-06 season was one to remember. Barcelona produced undoubtedly the best and most beautiful football in the world, winning the UEFA Champions League along the way.

Ronaldinho was superb, guiding Barca to the double.

The following year, defensive gaps were filled with new players such as Gianluca Zambrotta and Lillian Thuram arriving. However, the season turned to be a disappointing one as Barcelona lost La Liga to Real Madrid.

Last year, Barcelona's misery continued after a poor third-place finish and Rijkaard left his post to be replaced by Josep (Pepe) Guardiola.

Questions are still raised about the reason for Barcelona's downfall and Rijkaard's fall.

Barcelona's form was always related to Ronaldinho's form. Similarly to what used to happen when Michael Owen failed to produce for Liverpool and when Thierry Henry played poorly for Arsenal, Barcelona were horrible when Ronaldinho did not perform well enough.

In his golden Barca days, Barcelona were unstoppable because Ronaldinho was unstoppable. What he used to produce was sheer magic. Maybe Rijkaard put too much emphasis on the fact that Ronaldinho was unstoppable that it affected the team's results.

But also, Rijkaard was a little too bold; he just wouldn't switch from his 4-3-3 system to apply a formation with two strikers. Having Henry and Eto'o at his disposal, Rijkaard should have played them both upfront.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Rijkaard stuck to his system that was obviously not working and Henry ended up playing on the right flank, a place where he doesn't belong.

Most importantly, Ronaldinho was terrible in his last two seasons with Barca and turned from the best footballer in the world to a party animal, leaving Kaka to take his place as the best in the world (to the delight of Kaka).

And now, Rijkaard is out of work; unemployed (like many, many people nowadays).

Was it Ronaldinho's drop of form that cost Rijkaard his job or was it Rijkaard's fault for keeping faith in the 4-3-3 system that was not working?

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