Former French defender Laurent Blanc, who played with Valderrama in Montpellier, voiced one of the most accurate descriptions for Valderrama, "In the fast and furious European game he wasn't always at his ease. He was a natural exponent of 'toque', keeping the ball moving. But he was so gifted that we could give him the ball when we didn't know what else to do with it knowing he wouldn't lose it... and often he would do things that most of us only dream about."