Wesley Sneijder's decision to move to Turkey…

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by Jan

Gobbledegook…. Turkey time…

28 years old. Skipper of Oranje. One of the best playmakers – if not the best – on the planet. Won titles. Won Champions League trophy. Played for Ajax, Real Madrid, Inter Milan… Next stop…. Manchester? Nope. London? Nope. Liverpool? Nope. Munich? Nope. Barcelona, Valencia, Moscow, Paris….Nope.

Istanbul.

Why, a lot of people will say….. WHY? WWWWWWHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY????????

Well, simple. There were no other takers. Man United sniffed a bit. Liverpool made some moves. Man City hesitated. Anzhi made inquiries. But Galatasaray was the only club putting a concrete deal on the table.

Wes even waited for Liverpool to come with a serious offer… but it wasn’t to be.

So Wes had the option to stay at Inter, make a lot of money (still) but not play. Lose his spot in Oranje. Lose fitness.

Or, go to a club where they will revere him, where he will play CL football and where he can prove his fitness. My idea is, that he has a limited transfer sum in his new deal with the Turks.

Galatasaray paid 8 Mio Euros for the playmaker. If Wesley plays a great second season half (based on his limited transfer sum of say – 15 Mio), a club like Chelsea, Man City or Man United might decide to have a bite.

Time is tough for big transfers now. No club is capable of spending mega-bucks at the moment, and Wesley is picking the best option for him and his international career.

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  2. nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

    nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

  5. No other superstars have seen their career rejuvenated in Turkey. All the big names went there in the twilight of their career and from there jumped to either their native country or the far east. Sneijder won’t be an exception. Good as gone Wesley will get fatter eating doner kebabs 3 times a day. I don’t care if mourinho advised him. Of course with the amount of money he wanted there was only 1 option and Mourinho didn’t have another one to suggest to him.

  6. Hope he makes enough money to retire on, and then comes back to Ajax on an affordable salary. And if not, I hope he comes to MLS (preferably TFC obviously).

  7. Hard to say this is a bad move for Sneijder: Inter would rather waste his talent than pay for it — and the top teams weren’t in a bind for a playmaker, finest kind or no.

    Jerry Lewis is a genius in France. And now Sneijder is revered in Turkey.

    He gets to play hard for the rest of the season, and if anyone wants him for next year, they know where to go looking. Galatasaray should be able to recoup their transfer fee.

    Sneijder has an opportunity to earn redemption. He’s truly fallen from grace since he got all those tattoos. 😉

    1. You hit it in he head. All those players who try to imitate NBA thugs end up in the trash bin. I hope LVG enforces a no tattoo allowed rule, similar to no headphones.

  8. My biggest issue with the move would be that while midfielders challenged him hard in Italy, he will get all sorts of nasty tackles in the Turkish league – probably worse than in most other countries. And the question is if he got the body for it.

  9. actually i do agree with Jan. sneijder’s move to galata was a realistic and pragmatic decision. obviously, galata are not one of the top european clubs,the turkish league is not better than let’s say the belgian,greek, etc. but he didn’t have any other real choice. 2 and a half years ago he was one of the 5 best players in the world,but it was 2 and a half years ago,and the situation has changed. what he has done since the world cup final? at least,he made a bad decision: in 2011 he should have accepted the pay cut and the transfer to manu. but,he didn’t and had barely played for inter. unfortunately in the last 2 and a half years we read more about yolanthe than about wes…
    if we look at his talent: he might come back and become again one of the best players in the world,but he has to work very,very hard,and we’ll see what will happen. in turkey he’ll have playing time,and this is better for oranje than his situation at inter.
    obviously i agree with all of you who say top players only go to turkey at the twilight of their career,but his situation was unique. i blame inter,too for this – they should have made an agrrement with him earlier,because the situation was really bad and counterproductive for both the player and the club, and for oranje,too.

  10. Actually I feel this is a blessing in disguise for Oranje. Wes will be ready for the WC, that league is less demanding and nothing beats happiness. Time will tell if he’ll be a star again in a major competition but one thing is for sure. We will miss watching him every week…

    1. Wesly will become again a star.IF AND ONLY IF he discovers his fitness like a 22 year old.Turkish league is hard league not a soft one..i think it should be able to make him fit.

  11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TUgpYO6R5U

    Well I personally wouldn’t mind being treated as a heroe.

    I am sure Wesley wanted to go somewhere else but he didn’t get a concrete offer so he had to chose between Inter and Gala.

    Galatasaray is already in the knockout stages of the UCL and Inter isn’t, he’ll be living in a great city so I really don’t find his decision as bad as most of you.

    1. Man, I have a feeling Wes is thinking he is either in hell or in heaven. He will need to learn a whole new culture that he’s never experienced before. The culture shock started today with endless kissing on both cheeks by MEN. If only he joined Man U sometime ago……………sigh.

  12. Wait lets forget Wesly for a while…
    No body will F@##$%arround with dutch team if we could feild following players ….
    —————-Persie—————-
    Roben—————————–Olajohn
    ——–Clasie———Leroyfer————
    ————-Strootman———————-
    BMI———————————Van rhijn
    ———-Douglas——Heitinga————–
    ————–Krul—————————–
    If anyone d have doubts watch
    Persie-Much better than hyped falcao
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAcz_BvWLbc
    Roben-Much better than messi at times
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay7A4W5CEa8
    OLajohn..much better effective dribbler than Afaleey
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr8sj9IW_NQ
    Leory fer-The power
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScXvzMpUryM
    Jordy clasie–New xavi
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhX_OfBheQ0
    Kevin strootman -better than roy keane
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB20K8xubPI

    BMI—New Abidal
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsvE7zwtbFY
    Douglas–New lilian turam
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoFeki9CRQM
    Johny heitinga–Lion hearted

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w8c_9KMHfo
    Ricardo van rhijn-The most progidious RB
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQQLGshQhEI
    TIm crul–Most talented young gk
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgaQUn0jpJg
    this team would easily beat a team with kuyt,joris,Afaleey,Narsingh,Lenz.

  15. > “might decide to have a bite.”

    I hope you’re right. He’s got a few more good years in him. Shame to see that go to waste.

    Most important thing for Wesley right now is to play amazing football and be noticed. He’s a fighter. He’s got a good chance to get back to the top.

  16. Preliminary squad in alphabetical order for the friendly against Italy on February the 6th:

    * Daley Blind (Ajax),
    * Khalid Boulahrouz (Sporting),
    * Jordy Clasie (Feyenoord),
    * Leroy Fer (FC Twente),
    * Marco van Ginkel (Vitesse),
    * Jonathan de Guzman (Swansea City),
    * Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Schalke 04),
    * Daryl Janmaat (Feyenoord),
    * Ola John (Benfica),
    * Tim Krul (Newcastle United),
    * Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahҫe),
    * Jeremain Lens (PSV),
    * Adam Maher (AZ),
    * Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord),
    * Joris Mathijsen (Feyenoord),
    * Robin van Persie (Manchester United),
    * Ricardo van Rhijn (Ajax),
    * Ruben Schaken (Feyenoord),
    * Kevin Strootman (PSV),
    * Kenneth Vermeer (Ajax),
    * Michel Vorm (Swansea City),
    * Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord)
    * Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Sporting).

    1. Preliminary squad sorted per position:

      Keepers:

      * Tim Krul (Newcastle United),
      * Kenneth Vermeer (Ajax),
      * Michel Vorm (Swansea City)

      Defense:

      * Daley Blind (Ajax),
      * Khalid Boulahrouz (Sporting Portugal),
      * Daryl Janmaat (Feyenoord),
      * Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord),
      * Joris Mathijsen (Feyenoord),
      * Ricardo van Rhijn (Ajax),
      * Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord)

      Midfield:

      * Jordy Clasie (Feyenoord),
      * Leroy Fer (FC Twente),
      * Marco van Ginkel (Vitesse),
      * Jonathan de Guzman (Swansea City),
      * Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbace),
      * Adam Maher (AZ),
      * Kevin Strootman (PSV)

      Attack:

      * Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke 04),
      * Ola John (Benfica),
      * Jeremain Lens (PSV),
      * Robin van Persie (Manchester United),
      * Ruben Schaken (Feyenoord)
      * Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Sporting).

      1. The rules have been made clear, so no surprise that Sneijder (transfer + not played recently), VDV (has been injured for a long time (and in divorce?)), Robben (injured for a long time) are not there. They could maybe play, but they are not top fit by van Gaal’s norms. Heitinga and Vlaar same story. Not playing enough and coming back from injuries.

        This has resulted in free spots and we see they new guy’s taking advantage of that, like de Guzman, Maher, van Ginkel and Fer. Remains interesting who will make the final squad from that lot.

        We also see van Wolfswinkel and Blind and I guess the last one could make the final squad as you don’t want Mathijsen in this form in your line up, meaning BMI going to center and Blind taking over the back position.

        Who would have thought only 6 months ago?

          1. Purely as a result of an injury. He’s been out since 24.11.2012 and came back at 11.01.2013 due to a calf injury. Van Gaal does not deem him match fit enough.

  17. I think RVP will get a “sudden injury” right after the last match for United before international brake.

    If that happens, it’s probably the first time (apart from the Ukraine game right after WC2010, but that was a B team right from the bat) we play without any of the magnificent 4.

    Times are changing.

    Let’s see what this generation is made off. We are massive underdogs against Italy with this team, if they turn up with their A squad.

    2. @DRB3000 this is not a B team..this team will easily beat our first eleven if we take away persie and roben.Even persie and roben will not enough service if we play old farts.
      —————-RVP———————
      John————————-Ginkel—–
      ————-Clasie———————
      ——-Fer———–strootman———–
      Blind—————————-Van rhijn
      ———–BMI——De vrij————-
      ————–Vermeer————————–
      this team will beat any team,ie i mean can beat spain/arjentina/germany/portugal etc.

      1. * “What is Joris doing for Feynoord?”

        Being a fifth wheel. Messing up. Getting in the way of the development of BMI, who is just better as a center defender than left back. He is also very insecure in interviews, not anymore able to admit to mistakes. That means he is at a place where his ability does not cover the demands and responsibility’s of his working environment. He is also making far more than pretty much any other player at Feyenoord, so his colleagues won’t show much forgiveness when having to cover for his shortcomings (if there is something like that in top sport in the first place)

        * “Where is Bas Dost?”

        Not in the preliminary squad in any case. My theory is that van Gaal recognizes this as a very weak squad and will do what he did vs Germany and play counter football. Then a Bas Dost is easily isolated and lacks the real speed to benefit from outbreak moments on his own. He played at Heereneveen also often as a counter striker with Assaidi at the left and Narsingh on the right. However all the speed and actions came from the wingers. Wolfswinkel can be send deep on hiw own as he is probably quite a tad faster than Bas Dost. Also with Huntelaar we already have a player with the same profile as Dost (you might not agree with that, but that is how I see it).

        * “Why Schaken?”

        Because van Gaal has set up profile sketches and goes really, really far in following his set up. Meaning, if Schaken gets injured, he probably moves on to a Beerens. If Beerens is injured he maybe even goes as far as selecting a Boerrigter. He will go for classic wingers with speed at almost any cost.

        * “this team will beat any team,ie i mean can beat spain/arjentina/germany/portugal”

        Oke we might disagree here. There is quite a gap between your confidence in the teams ability and my estimation of the quality it beholds.

        I think that this Dutch team AS A WHOLE (there are some very talented individuals) is probably the weakest in over 10 or 15 years. This selection brings me back to the time we had Konterman and Sikora “running” the show for us.

        1. @The above team has lungs and brilliance,i do agrree that they lack some experience but ,they are second to none and they could do better in attack.RVP,Ginkel,stroot,Clasie,Blind,BMI,Van rhijn are intelligent players,they are top team material.

  19. Also no Bas Dost while he could benefit in a great way from Ola’s crosses with his length. Weird. Played in 18 games for Wolfsburg. Wolfswinkel is chosen over him, while not scoring much. 1 goal every 270 minutes in the Portuguese league. 4 of them being the first goal scored for his team, so no flat track bully stuff and it were no penalty’s either.

    1. I think Dost was also not selected because he is not fit enough by LvG standards. He was injured but recovered for the last Wolfsburg game,but he did not play from the start. That probably told Van Gaal he is not fit enough.

  20. ——————Krul—————

    –v. Rhijn–de Vrij—-BMI—–Blind

    —————-Clasie—————

    van Ginkel——————Strootman

    Lens————RVP————-John

    As Clasie is dipping a bit with his form and to build in a bit more maturity, the following variant is also possible:

    ——————Krul————–

    –v. Rhijn–de Vrij—-BMI—–Blind

    ————–Strootman————-

    de Guzman————————Fer

    Lens————RVP————-John

    1. I’ve seen sporting lisbon plenty of time, Van Wolfswinkel never gets great service, always isolated. and don’t be surprised if khalid boulahrouz plays, he’s been playing faster then before at center back, and can make forward runs now, but his passing is bad

  21. Hi guys:

    Interview: I did really enjoyed LVG interview. Thanks Jan for taking your time to translate it for us. I really appreciate it.

    Sneijder: Sneijder did a wrong choice. If he wants to maintain a good football level he should chose a better league. I am worried because Sneijder was our skipper and our best player in my opinion. VdVaart is out of shape. My concern is if Maher will achieve the right level on 2014.

    Classic: Janmat showed again that he is not good enough defending. GvdW is much better. I think our LRB should be Van Rijhs and VdW. Mathinsen is getting old. Was a good player, but not more. BMI didn’t play well also. I think he is much better playing on the centre back than left back, by far. Immer is a joke!

    PSV Zwolle: Wijnaldum is playing worse each time I see him. He used to get lost big periods on the game. By the way, what a funny game!

  22. How can VG choose 6 players including the 4 defenders from Feyenoord after they were taken apart by Ajax in front of VG’s eyes? Inconceivable to me. Also no Siem de Jong. Like all the other coaches he has his favorites. I think he has a vendetta with Ajax which is why he is not picking players from Ajax. The entire coaching staff was rebuked by Ajax so this will be a trend. Really a shame. I mean Joris and Janmaat have no business on the national team.

    1. @Jeff..Janmaat has improved a lot.Janmaat could fight with Van rhijn and Van derweil.i think van derw eil is good in drbbling but overall his end product in attack is zero.thats why LVg not picking him..i have seen janmaat games later ,he pretyy impressive in attack.all i felt was bit lack of concentraion and speed.
      So Vanrhijn >Jnamaat=Weil
      i agree on joris completley,by slecting these kind of players a coach can spoil the hope of nation and hope of very talented generation.
      we can clearly see that blackholes in LVG system ,so has Jogi low,except Del bosque.Del bosque is pretty open and willing listen to the criticasters.thats very important for growth of a man.With all due respect to LVG and some dutch players i found problems with many players of LVG slection.those players needs to DROPPED FOR THE SAKE OF NATION..

      1. Janmaat is a completely shit defender. He gets eaten by half decent wingers. Did you see how far behind the line he was when he played Fischer onside on the weekend? A good four meters, I would say.

    2. Jeff I am agreeing about Joris doesn´t has business with NT, and LVG should pick Viergiver or Douglas instead.

      About Janmat, it’s true he played horrible, but I think he is our 3er best RB at the moment (behind Van Rijhs and VdW). Maybe LVG prefers Janmaat over VdW because he plays beside De Vrij and BMI!

      I don´t think LVG has his favourites. He didn´t selected more Ajax players because Ajax don’t have better player for NT than Blind and Van Rijhs.

      I really like Sien de Jong, but we have better players to play 10 place (Maher) and 8 (Strootman, Maher and maybe Van Ginkel) and 9 (Hunter, V Persie, RVW).

      You can argue Sien de Jong is better than Fer or De Guzman, but, maybe in LVG point of view don´t.

      I think LVG prefers to give more playing time to our future stars (Maher, van Ginkel) than playing Sien De Jong that is a very good player, but he will not be world class.

        2. AZ has been leaking goals and Viergever has not been able to look good in these problematic times for the club. AZ is the biggest underperformer in the Eredivisie. That is the result of quite some factors, but Viergever has not been able to compensate.

          Douglas is a wrong player in the van Gaal book. Remember when Lucio was immediately sold when van Gaal took charge at Bayern? Lucio was also no van Gaal defender. Douglas same thing. To keep possession you need center defenders that are good in build up and good at letting the ball circulate at the back when high pressure is applied. If the opposing team gets the idea the center defender is not able to football himself out of pressure, they will act like sharks noticing a drop of blood falling in the water. Insecurity and fear will creep in the team and build up will not be executed. Hoof football is the result and van Gaal’s nightmare is complete.

          Douglas is a pretty good defender and in many other country’s that would be the main requisite, but his bad luck is that he wants to represent a country with a different philosophy.

          Cheers

          2. Well if you put it that way …. no, not really.

            Mathijsen has been pretty much the worst central defender in Eredivisie that plays for an Eredivisie top club. I only try to explain the decision. If you press me to come up with an explanation it would be experience for the group (a familiar face as well) and the last game he came in against Hungary (?), when Mathijsen did a good job for the NT.

            I have rarely seen a player going downhill so fast as Mathijsen. He has become a liability at Feyenoord and does not deserve his high pay check.

            PS Nuytinck also has a problem by the way. Same story as Douglas. Not that good of a footballer (while in Belgium he is known as one of the better ones in the team, but we are talking about different standards here) and then van Gaal will be quite stubborn in ignoring him.

  24. Boula (31) and Joris (32) will bring a lot of experience. My guess is that LVG will want one or the other on the field.

    Boula, of course, offers this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmJKoAmynso

    With VDV and Sneijder both out, the midfield should be fun. We’ll see who sinks or swims.

    LVG’s “3-4-3” seems unlikely. So I’ll guess that Clasie and Strootman will hold and play box-to-box.

    And if LVG really sees Adam Maher as a number 10, this is a key moment: throw him into the Italian fire or no?

    Who’s our 10 against Italy?

    1. “And if LVG really sees Adam Maher as a number 10, this is a key moment: throw him into the Italian fire or no?

      Who’s our 10 against Italy?”

      Well I hope we play 4-3-3 with the point to the back. If we play van Marwijk tactics the Marco van Ginkel behind RVP would be something I would like to see. He would also be a good answer to Pirlo. I remember how Emanuelson had one of his best games against Juve last year against Pirlo as a shutler. Van Ginkel can do the same and link up quite well with RVP, meaning driving the ball up at his feet and let RVP do all his off ball runs to confuse attacks. Van Ginkel also has a good shot from distance.

      If RVP get the Fergie flue right before international break, then Adam Maher might be better. As a 10 Maher brings more magic.

      1. De Guzman? LVG might want to risk a more mature player, in whom the NT has little invested, for a friendly like this against Italy. DeGuzman is hot right now (Danny Blind scouted him at the last match where he scored two).

        Think he’d start De Guzman over Maher and Van Ginkel in these circumstances?

    2. I think it’s possible that we go 3-4-3, since Italy will probably play 4-4-2 (diamond) I think the easiest way to do it is to play with Blind at LM, and BMI at LCB/LB. That way they can switch back and forth as needed by moving Blind back and BMI to CB. Something like:
      ————-Krul
      –v.Rhijn – de Vrij – BMI
      ———–Clasie———–
      JDG2/Fer—————Blind
      ———-Maher/Ginkel——
      –John—van Persie—Lens–

  25. Galatasaray chairman Unal Aysal has claimed Wesley Sneijder will end his career with the Turkish champions after the club agreed with the Inter playmaker.
    Sneijder goes there to retire and this says it all. Now if miracle happens, he takes Galatasary deep in CL, perhaps his value may go up and other club may be interested in him again….
    I like the squad selection in general. I would love to see some of these young players get playing time, not just sitting on the bench.

  26. ——————-Krul—————-

    —V.Rhijn—DeVrij—-Indi—Blind—-

    ——–Maher—-Strootman—-Fer——-

    ——O.John——-RVP——Lens——–

  27. This selection has very good players that will be the core of the Dutch national team like Maher, Van Ginkel, Fer, Strootman, Blind, Indi, Clasie, etc…so I really don’t see why some say this is the worst selection and even compare it to Konterman and Sikora!.

    But I agree when people say Mathijsen must be dropped and Schaken has nothing to do in the national team!!!.

    Of course there are experienced players missing which will be very important like Sneijder, Robben, VDV, Afellay…and maybe but just maybe Heitinga and Vlaar.

  28. I would love to see:

    ——————-Krul—————-

    —V.Rhijn—DeVrij—-Indi—Blind—-

    ——–Maher—-Clasie—Strootman——

    ——O.John——-RVP——Lens——–

    The “trio” Maher, Clasie, Strootman will be wonderful!

    No Anita!!!!!!!! why?!

  29. Also we have to give LVG credit for experimenting and not just settle with the experienced players.

    We are facing Italy and he could’ve settled with the experienced players in order to get a result but he is thinking about the future and wants to give big tests to younger players. 🙂

  31. This sounds like a Man United. A bunch of no names and RvP. I don’t mind it after seeing first hand what Robin Van Persie is made of. I also the experimentation with youngsters against big name Euro teams – this is great in terms of confidence, morale and experience. One thing I don’t quite understand is why did he not call Robben and Sneijder – they can train with the team without being named in the squad and that would be helpful for them as well.

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