Ajaxtalk

Thomas schreef:Volgens VI.nl was de basisplaats van Heinze de aanleiding voor de reserverol van Drenthe, maar dat kan volgens mij niet kloppen.

Baseman schreef:

Thomas schreef:Volgens VI.nl was de basisplaats van Heinze de aanleiding voor de reserverol van Drenthe, maar dat kan volgens mij niet kloppen.

Waarom niet ?

Raul Gonzalez Blanco schreef:Schüster heeft al aangegeven dat hij drenthe niet meer zal gebruiken als linksback. Een wijs besluit, want Drenthe heeft niets van een verdediger en was slechter dan slecht afgelopen weekend. Zonde, want tot nu toe heeft hij van alle aankopen het beste gepresteerd.

Question: What's the difference between Sneijder and Beckham?

Answer: One wears the No23 shirt, scores free-kicks, delivers 45-yard assists, is adored by fans and speaks perfect English. The other is David Beckham.

Sid LoweSeptember 3, 2007 5:33 PM

When Real Madrid presented Wesley Sneijder alongside fellow Dutchman Royston Drenthe this summer, most people in Spain were not entirely convinced - even if the media cheerleaders did don pom-poms and ra-ra skirts. He was, after all, fourth choice after Madrid had missed out on Kaká, Cesc Fábregas and Michael Ballack; he had cost €27m - three days, and one humiliating defeat, after Madrid had told Ajax that they had "three hours, not a minute more" to accept a "final, final" offer of €24m; and, let's face it, he was just never going to be as good as David Beckham.

Those who knew Sneijder knew better. Asked whether Drenthe and Sneijder were any good, the text message from one Holland international said it all: "Drenthe, definitely not. Sneijder, definitely yes. The best player in Holland by miles - well worth the money!" Meanwhile, Real Zaragoza full-back Juanfran, who played alongside Sneijder at Ajax, described him as "the best player Madrid have signed since Zinedine Zidane." Which is going some when that list includes Ronaldo and Beckham as well over €500m worth of assorted misfits and lunatics, like Walter Samuel, Tommy Gravesen and dermatologists' dream Antonio Cassano.

They were right too. While Beckham has been stillborn in the USA, Sneijder has been sensational in Spain: the La Liga season may only be two weeks old but already he has revealed himself to have a whore for a mother. Round here that's no cuss, either, because for some reason in Spain de puta madre actually means bloody brilliant.

And, boy, is Sneijder bloody brilliant! Worth the €27m transfer fee and well worth annoying Ajax so much that their sporting director calls you "a bunch of backstreet pimps". First, he scored the winner on the opening day of the season in the Madrid derby against Atlético and then he turned in another fantastic performance as Bernd Schuster's team turned on the style last night.

It was a big night in Villarreal. Which might not be saying much for a town where people sit out on the streets in plastic chairs waiting for the world to go by without ever quite realising that it's not going to, but it was a big night alright. A top-of-the-table clash between the best two teams in world football, presided over by a cuddly mascot that's supposed to be a submarine but looks more like a sub-normal Moomin, attended by more than half the town's population and broadcast by two different channels as the telly war rages on. Villarreal, boasting nine successive wins and unbeaten since April, against Real Madrid, the league champions and unbeaten in 16 competitive matches.

It was, they said, a real test for Madrid and they passed with flying colours, winning at El Madrigal for the first time ever, inflicting the Yellow Submarine's worst ever defeat as they ran out 5-0 winners with goals from Raúl, Sneijder (2), Guti and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Not because Villarreal were bad, either (they had more possession, more attacks and more shots than Madrid) but because Madrid were excellent. Marca called it "total football", which is pushing it, but with Guti pulling the strings in the middle Madrid kept the ball well and used it neatly, while they were unstoppable on the break. It was, screamed AS, "a white hurricane" and they had a point: once they had scored the second, just after half-time, Madrid blew Villarreal away. Drenthe might have proven to be just as out of control on the pitch as he is on Madrid's mean streets, where at 4.30am on Wednesday morning he cleverly took a left turn that didn't exist and ploughed straight into a police car, but otherwise Schuster's side were impressive, boasting pace, precision and devastating accuracy.

Most of all, though, they boasted Sneijder. The midfielder, said Van Nistelrooy, revealing rather too much as the players emerged from their post-match shower, "is enormous". In fact he's got the big-eyed smiley face of a five-year-old and the height of one, too. But while Sneijder stands at barely 5ft 7in, his performance was certainly immense: "Maradonian", said Marca, while even coach Bernd Schuster was raving about him. "Sneijder reminds me of another blond midfielder who played for Real Madrid once - he wasn't bad either," said the blond former Madrid midfielder with characteristic modesty.

Unable to fill Beckham's shoes? Pah! On the evidence so far, anything Becks can do, Sneijder can do better. Curling free-kicks? Check. Raking 45-yard balls? Check (and Sneijder's ones actually get you somewhere). Hard work? Check. Then there's the pace, the short passing, the flicks, the vision, the intelligence, and the goals. Oh, and the ability to shake off an opponent without turning his backside to them, waiting for the contact and shooting 300 feet into the air.

Last night, Sneijder provided a wonderful long assist, swinging a 40-yard ball over the defence for Raúl to open the scoring. He then curled an unstoppable free-kick in-off the post for the second, killing off Villarreal's resistance, and later hit a classy finish with the outside of his boot to make him La Liga's top scorer with three in two matches, thus earning him the nickname Pichichi and Real Madrid a deserved top spot on a perfect night.

Rishi schreef:Een vriend van mij, fan van Brazilie zei dat Diego Gago helemaal wegspeelde. Klopt dit? En waarom laat je ( een type) Gago iemand als Diego dekken mocht het waar zijn?

GangstaRiB schreef:Klopt wel ja. Diego was trouwens ongrijpbaar voor heel Real, maar Gago had inderdaad grote moeite. Gago was offensief trouwens ook errug onzorgvuldig. Net zoals die Ramos.

Jöhnk schreef:Ramos vind ik sowieso een prullenspeler. Dan was Salgado nog beter.

GangstaRiB schreef: Diego was trouwens ongrijpbaar voor heel Real, maar Gago had inderdaad grote moeite. Gago was offensief trouwens ook errug onzorgvuldig. Net zoals die Ramos.

Diego is echt een klasse apart.. waarom Adriaanse hem ooit afkeurde....