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Sneijder: Golden feet…

September 3rd, 2007 | By: Jan | 15 Comments »

Nobody really knew who he was in Madrid. The fans are calling for Arjen Robben for more than a year now.

But, after two competition matches, the fans and the press have embraced the unknown chum from Utrecht and call him the Phenomenon… And, after two match-days, Wes is topscorer in Spain with three out of two.
If Wesley understood Spanish really well he would blush when reading the papers after the Villareal match, in which he scored twice and had a fabulous assist on Raul. The Madrid press was lyrical although the Barcelona press asked rethorically why this Ajax player didn’t end up in Camp Nou?

The words read most in the papers were “perfect game” and “exhibition football”, when describing the interplay on midfield between Sneijder and Guti.

“Sneijder is a precision artist, with his passing and shots on goal. This boy has two golden feet. Or a golden hammer, depending on where he is, defending or attacking. He left the pitch the big hero. Even David Beckham needed more games to finally score from a free kick.

The former Ajax captain will be compared to Becks more and more. Like him, he needs to serve up delishes assists, passes and free kicks. The Englishman played from right, Sneijder will play from left.

It was from the left side of the pitch when he passed the wonderful assist onto Raul for the 1-0. Sneijder will change position a lot with Guti. “El Mundo wrote: “He is an unexpected treasure. His feet are touched by the Gods…”

AS wrote: “Real Madrid’s start this competition is outstanding, and it’s star is a player we didn’t really know: Wesley Sneijder. His feet are like hands and he is quick with his head and his legs. His passing is perfect. Raul and Van Gol are the luckiest strikers with him in midfield and Guti will have an ideal partner in the combination.”

Bernd Schuster was also happy with the performance and joked: “Some decades ago there was a blonde player here, who could score from free kicks. I like those type of players…” Referring to himself, of course…

Ruud van Nistelrooy: “Wesley is a brilliant player and when he is in form, like now, there’s just no stopping him. Not only does he have the qualities, he also has the mentality. Without that, you can’t play as he does.”

With Sneijder playing like he does :-), it will be harder for Robben to make his entrance in the machinery called Real Madrid. At the moment, Sneijder plays on the left midfield spot in the 4-4-2 where normally Robben would play. And Drenthe is another player to worry about his position. The Rotterdam born player was the weakest link in the team, playing left back.
Schuster: “Once Heinze is fit, Drenthe will not play on that spot anymore.” And so, there’s three Dutch players competing for the same spot for which it seems Sneijder has the right papers….

Tags: Arjen Robben, The Netherlands, Wesley Sneijder

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Comments

By stephen | September 3rd, 2007 at 9:11 pm

Wonderful for Sneijder, wonderful for Oranje…of course if vBasten doesn’t completely misuse him and start him at right back, haha.

Will these youngsters ever learn? Drenthe begged to leave and now he is at the biggest club in the world that needs results now and he has to compete with better, more experienced players for a spot. Should have stayed in the Eredivisie and played. What a waste.

Posted from United States

By Mario | September 3rd, 2007 at 10:33 pm

Stephen. I don´t agree with you on this subjetc. Drenthe is a very gifted player who will grow big time at Real. It is true that he could have less pressure at Feyenoord but at Madrid he will play with the best players around and will have many chances to show his skills that I think he eventually will do it. This past sunday he made some mistakes while defending because due to his youth he is desperate to show his value and sometimes he plays too fast and needs to learn more how to read the game. He will learn that for sure with a great coach like Schuster and the players he has around him…Cannavaro, Metzelder, Robben, Ruud, Diarra, Guti, Raúl, Sneijder, etc.
About Sneijder, he will be untouchable for Madrid and Robben too, Drenthe will be rotated a lot this year so he gains more and more experience. I think that the player who will have to go to the bench will be Robinho because he does many tricks but he is not very productive. Sneijder will move to the right replacing Robinho and Arjen will be placed on the left or could even play on the right letting Wesley stay at the left. Other change will be bench Guti and put Sneijder behind the strikers and with Robben and Robinho in the team. I am pretty sure Calderon and Schuster want Robben in the team, hopefully Robben is fit enough because in the last two years his injuries have been very often, but if he stays for large periods without being injured he will surely be a hit at Madrid because at his best everybody knows that Arjen Robben is the best left winger in the world nowadays.

By stephen | September 3rd, 2007 at 11:39 pm

I hope you are right Mario. I just think these young players are soo tempted to make it big too fast and really miss out on their development in ‘lower leagues’ or mid-table teams, ala Sneijder. He developed as much as he could at Ajax, and then moved on to make immediate impact. I think a guy Drenthe’s age needs to play week in and week out and really gain the pitch-time he needs for development/experience. I think too many move too soon and find themselves in less than ideal situations and get lost in the shuffle. Anyway, its all under the bridge now, he is at Real, and I obviously hope he does very well.

Posted from United States

By netherlandfanboy | September 4th, 2007 at 1:43 am

I agree with Stephen tat nowadays our young players move too soon but in my opinion our youth system is not good for defenders. Look at the weak spots of our teams, they’re defenders and defend midfielder. From the time of Jaap Stam, De Boer and Davids, we didn’t have a new world class player playing in the back. So I hope Drenthe can develop his skill at Real although the youth system at Real is suck too, their young player never make way to the starting XI.

Posted from United States

By Bruce | September 4th, 2007 at 4:09 am

Isn’t Sniejder playing centre left? I think Robinho was playing on the left wing…. Might be wrong….

In any case, Robben and Sneijder will start every game (when healthy) if the money Real spent on each of them says any thing.

Posted from Republic Of Korea

By Bruce | September 4th, 2007 at 4:17 am

Re: Mario, if you saw the way Guti and Sneijder worked together last game you wouldn’t want to bench Guti. He is a quality player and works very well with Wesley.

Robinho is definately despensable, and could act as a decent option (along with Baptista) as a sub for the strikers, and even a sub for Robben when he plays.

Any word on when Robben will play?

Posted from Republic Of Korea

By Jan | September 4th, 2007 at 5:06 am

Robinho played on the right and insiders say he will be the first to be benched. His trickery is awesome but his efficiency poor. Sneijder can play on all positions in midfield (holding midfielder, attacking, left and right). Robben can play left and right. I’d say Robben and Sneijder and Guti are starters. Guti has a great raport with Ruud and is an awesome and smart player. Undervalued, being a youth system player. That always seems to be the case. Robben won’t play all matches so Robinho and Drenthe will get their play time. Not sure when Robben will be fit. Might take a couple of weeks.

Posted from Australia

By ferenc | September 4th, 2007 at 5:54 am

don’t forget that in real’s midfield diarra is a worldclass player too - drenthe should become a holding midfielder,a new davids. he’s got the talent for that.

i think guti will be benched too. at the moment i only see two “untouchable”: sneijder and diarra. the actual opponents will always define who else will be the other two starters.

i’m agree with the barcelona press: wesley should have ended up at camp nou. but the competition is even tougher there. for a dutch pow is better that all these young guys play at madrid. for my pow: sneijder and drenthe should play at barca,or at least sneijder. unfortunately and being realistic,drenthe wouldn’t have too much chance to play regularly.

Posted from Hungary

By goose | September 4th, 2007 at 10:49 am

agree with Stephen (in the Drenthe case), hes move has been too soon..he played less then 30 pro games in Holland!!
if anything hell be a defencive midfielder..no back.. but it most be imposible as a player to turn down the biggest club in the world..i understand that you then take your change while its there.

nice one Jan on the underrated players that arrive from the own youth system…its always easier to cheer for a guy that has costed millions, and also; Guti really seem to have some special understanding with Ruud..

i know nothing of Madrid, actually always hated them..but now with all these dutch players theyre my fav. team in Spain..hahah

heres the Sneijder action from last week, enjoy

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=tRbEPFyi0Jk

Posted from Netherlands

By Igor | September 4th, 2007 at 12:10 pm

I agree with what some of you said above, and I don’t think that sneijder and robben will be competing with each other for a spot in the lineup. They are different players. I think that robinho and robben are similar and will therefore be competing with each other for a place in the starting eleven. i also don’t think that we’ll see both robinho and robben playing together if it means benching guti. he may be underappreciated by the broader real fan base, but last year when real was struggling the local fans and media were calling for his return to the lineup, which in the end coincided with real’s change of fortunes.

Posted from Canada

By tjeerd | September 4th, 2007 at 5:45 pm

thanks for the link goose. seems ajax should have kept sneijder as jan alluded with the
hsv-vandervaart analogy.

By ferenc | September 4th, 2007 at 6:16 pm

frank rijkaard on wesley sneijder: http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=404163

Posted from Hungary

By sandesh | September 5th, 2007 at 3:29 am

seen castelen play against bayern he had a great game really
he is a good option for right wing
i watched bouma against chelsea
he did a good job
anyone here playing FANTASY PREMIER LEAGUE
good site for football manager related to the EPL
if there r then lets have a league of all the dutch football fans
fantasy.premierleague.com

Posted from Nepal