Editorial

Calcio Debate: The Curious Case Of Wesley Sneijder

Goal.com's Subhankar Mondal analyses the Dutchman's performance for Italian champions Inter so far this season.....

Oct 28, 2009 2:10:00 PM

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Wesley Sneijder - Inter (Getty Images)

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And you thought that Michael Jordan and David Beckham were the only big name players to have donned number 23 on their back.

After the most recognizable sporting face left Real Madrid under acrimonious circumstances that summed up Ramon Calderon's circus-like tenure in office, the Dutchman was drafted in and the new number 23 not only replaced the old number 23, he actually played better than him. Wesley Sneijder announced himself to the Bernabeu faithful by scoring an 80th minute (deflected) winner against Atletico Madrid in the opening week of the 2007-08 season and then single-handedly destroyed Villarreal, scoring twice and floating a 40-yard ball to Raul to earn Madrid's first ever victory at El Madrigal. Sneijder would go onto finish the season as the best creative midfielder in Spain with nine goals and six assists in 27 starts.

The following year the 25-year-old 'graduated' to number 10 but could garner only 18 league starts, and as institutional crisis and injuries ruined his season, Sneijder couldn't replicate his 2007-08 form and sank into on-pitch depression. Florentino Perez's Neo-Galactic revolution saw the Dutchman get booted out and despite stating that he didn't want to leave the Spanish capital, Sneijder eventually moved to Inter.

The Greatness

And just as he had done at Madrid, in Milan too the former Ajax playmaker kickstarted his career right from Day One. His debut was against arch-rivals Milan and although he couldn't score, his link-up play with his fellow midfielders and strikers Samuel Eto'o and Diego Milito were excellent and led many to believe that he is the missing link in the Nerazzurri's ambition to conquer Europe.

Love At First Sight

Sneijder's next game was against Parma and he misfired, missing a few chances and displaying a below-par performance. Against Barcelona in the Champions League he was disappointing and so was he against Cagliari. He stepped up his level against Napoli and won the game in the first-half with two set-pieces that led to goals and scored the injury time winner against Udinese, although he was poor for most of the game. Then against Genoa the former Madrid playmaker contributed to three goals and was back to his best.

Just like his two seasons in La Liga, Sneijder's time so far in a Nerazzurri shirt has been mixed. Excellent in some games, good in some and downright poor in one or two. Perhaps not the best example of consistency, is it?

Now, no one doubts that Sneijder is not an 'old-fashioned' trequartista and he will never be. An 'attacking midfielder', his main assets are reading the game, threading in balls for his teammates and shooting from distance with more accuracy than, ahem, Beckham could even imagine in his dreams. Add to that his work ethic, ability to play sumptuous long balls and versatility to play on ether side of the midfield - although he is best used through the centre - and you get a player who is truly top class. Oh, and there's his stunning free-kicks.

The Doubts

But as good and truly excellent a player Sneijder is, he cannot carry a team's entire creative department on his own, which is what is expected of him at Inter; he needs a partner, which he doesn't have at the San Siro. And without someone complementing him, Sneijder's effectiveness decimates. At Madrid in 2007-08 he had Robinho and Guti aiding him with the former even often substituting him in the playmaker-in-chief's role. For the Dutch national squad at Euro 2008 he had Rafael van der Vaart to complement him.

Inter Are A Team Now

But at Inter when Sneijder looks around for someone to read him and be on his wavelength, he finds no one. Sulley Muntari is a defensive midfielder, Esteban Cambiasso is a defensive-minded central midfielder, Javier Zanetti is an ageless running machine and Dejan Stankovic is neither world class nor very imaginative. Playing Samuel Eto'o away from goal and nearer to Sneijder perhaps might help but then that would increase the goalscoring burden on Diego Milito, who as good a finisher he is, needs supply.

Inter's main objective this season is to win the Champions League and for that to happen they desperately need a natural trequartista, which, let's be honest, Sneijder is not. Inter's defensive unit is probably one of the best in Europe - although both Rubin Kazan and Dynamo Kyiv have made mockery of that notion in recent weeks - and in Eto'o, Milito and Mario Balotelli the Italian champions have a very fearsome strikeforce, but it is in the 'upper middle area' of the pitch that Inter have fallen short.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's insistence to wear the Invisible Cloak during big games at Inter failed the club on several occasions and although the Nerazzurri are more of a 'team' now than a one-man emergency unit, they are still lacking that vital element of 'one moment of unalloyed genius' that could win any game..

Sneijder is a matchwinner but can he win the Champions League for Inter?

Subhankar Mondal, Goal.com

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