Good news from Spain's defending Champion, Real Madrid, as their star midfielder, Wesley Sneijder, will only be out for three months and not the previously feared six.
The injury, suffered from a vicious tackle by Arsenal's Abou Diaby in a friendly on Sunday in the Emirates Cup, was originally diagnosed as a torn cruciate ligament according to El Marca newspaper.
But after an MRI Monday Real Madrid reported on their Web site that Sneijder will avoid surgery and will only be out three months.
While this is much improved over the original assessment, it will still leave Madrid without an integral piece for at least the first two months of the season, which is scheduled to kick off August 31.
Possible Replacements
Los Blancos did not waste any time, adding midfield help in the form of Sneijder's compatriot, Rafael van der Vaart. A deal that had been in the works for a few weeks between the Spanish club and Hamburg of the Bundesliga finally went through on Monday.
The 25-year-old van der Vaart—a central midfielder—will not directly replace Sneijder, who spent most of his time on the wings, but will be able to take on some of the playmaking responsibilities lost with Sneijder.
It will be very interesting to see how Madrid lines up to begin the season because Van der Vaart is in the same mold as a Madrid standby, Guti, and manager Bernd Schuster will have to decide if the two of them can play together.
Besides Van der Vaart, the injury to Sneijder directly effects two players seeking transfer: Madrid's Robinho and Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo.
I have read a few reports that say that the loss of a Sneijder will prompt Real Madrid President Ramon Calderon to step up his pursuit of Ronaldo, but I think this is completely the wrong move.
Real currently sports an imposing midfield and the last thing we need is another midfielder and especially one that is more focused on himself than the team—every player in this midfield is going to have to learn to share time.
A much better move would be to prevent Chelsea from signing Robinho. The Brazilian is incredibly skilled and is extremely dangerous streaking down the wing. Playing on one wing opposite Arjen Robben, Robinho can excel and help drive Madrid towards its title defense.
For a team that is weak at the back and thin up front after Raul and Ruud van Nistelrooy, who are both aging, there are much better places to spend money than on more midfielders.
The Midfield Log Jam
Sure there is always the issue of what to do once Sneijder comes back and increases the log jam in the midfield.
Currently Madrid has three defensive midfielders in Mahamadou Diarra, Fernando Gago, and Ruben De la Red who all deserve playing time. I could see at least one of them tested out more in the center of midfield.
The heart of the Madrid machine will be run by Guti and Van der Vaart. Guti is one of the most inconsistent players for the team, but when he is on, he can be the best distributors of the ball in the world.
Hopefully the young Van der Vaart can learn from the veteran Gutti and slowly take his place with the starting eleven.
Los Blancos also have Royston Drethe, Julio Baptista, and Javi Garcia in the midfield mix, but none of them have proven that they deserve consistent playing time as of yet.
How Schuster decides to figure out the players in the midfield could well determine how Madrid does this season.
What do you think Madrid should do in the middle?
How much will the loss of Sneijder effect Real's drive for their third league title in a row?
12 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Zahi Sahli 11 months ago
van der vaart would be a great replacement. more than good enough. if they get him, he can fill the gap left by sneijder's injury.
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Dakota Rubin 11 months ago
Hey Zahi, thanks for the comment.
The deal is now done. VDV will be introduced at the Bernabeu tomorrow. Reports have said the deal is for around 13 million euro and you are very right in that he will be more than good enough in the middle. Thanks.
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Keith Griffin 11 months ago
Only 13million euro for such a quality player in VDV. What a steal
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Dakota Rubin 11 months ago
Yeah, they got really lucky. It was partially because VDV has a clause in his contract that states that he could leave Hamburg after next season for only 1 million euro. So first Madrid offered 6 million for him which was just a ridiculous ploy but 13 is still incredibly cheap for such a good player.
Thanks very much for the comment.
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Salaar Arshad Shamsi 11 months ago
Van der Vaart is a fine player..Real Madrid will be a step up for him..Lets see how he copes..Three months..Sneijder had quite an impact last season...Thanks for the update Dakota.
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Dakota Rubin 11 months ago
Thanks for the comments Salaar. I really appreciate it.
You are right in that Madrid is a much bigger stage than Hamburg but he has played in European Championships and a World Cup and has taken a leadership role on that squad and it is time for him to step up to this level.
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XXX XXX 11 months ago
Van is going to take to Madrid like a duck to water, he has the ego to carry it off and the skills...
I think this transfer wail be quite understated compared to what many were thinking i.e Ronaldo and al the whoopla... but I feel that come two seasons time from now Van is going to be one of if not the most vital cog in Madrids machine going forward.
A fantastic signing a great fit for Madrid...
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Dakota Rubin 11 months ago
I completely agree, Alby. He seemed to be sort of an unknown commodity playing in Hamburg and real got very lucky to get him so cheap. Madrid has had great success with Dutch players and I have a feeling this will be another great success story. He is coming into a great situation to succeed.
Thanks for the comments.
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Austin Danforth 11 months ago
As much as it pains me to see van der Vaart leave Hamburg, he is most definitely moving up. He goes from being the man at HSV and easily one of the five best players in the Bundesliga (up there with Ribery, Diego, Gomez, and Toni/Podolski -- pick em) to one of the best players on his team. He should adapt without any problems. His now-ex-trainer Martin Jol evaluated him at 30 mil. and considered him the best number 10 position player in Europe, which is obviously somewhat biased but certainly not far off of the mark
The switch is significant and beneficial for both teams, though Real really does make out with the better end of things, easily. They get 50% off of one of Europe's best talents, a welcome addition to any team.
Hamburg, on the other hand, gets a sizable sum for one player. They lose a lot, but it would have been even worse in a year's time when VDV would buy out of his contract for 1.5 mil and HSV would be left holding its hat, waving goodbye with light pockets. The real question with this deal is what HSV does to improve their team with the money they made. I'm quite anxious to see what sort of young talent they get for VDV's position and hopefully a promising striker too -- both serious needs for the club.
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Neil Melms 11 months ago
Last weekend was completely lucky and unlucky to be a Madrid fan. It was also ironic that the man who was probably looking forward to this signing is the man that got injured. Hamburg had to let Van der Vaart go, and Madrid more than ever needed him now. He will be a great fit in Madrid with all the Dutch players in the team already.
Prior to Sneijder getting injured, I would have guessed putting Diarra or Gago in a defensive role, pairing with Van der Vaart and Sneijder in central/attacking role with either Robinho or Robben on the wing. Guti can come off the bench and right away become an impact player with his vision and creativity. De la Red deserves a fair chance and it will be ashamed as a football fan that he doesn't get to play everyday, because he is that good of a player. Glad he plays for Madrid yet sad that he wont be a starter. A dilemma I and anyone who cheers for a major club have learned to deal with. I thought Baptista might be moving on this year but with the injury to Sneijder, he might be kept as support.
Another issue I'm concern more than the Ronaldo transfer rumors is that I hope Robinho doesn't leave. He is such an important icon and I just think we haven't seen the best of him yet. It would be more tragic if he goes to Chelsea as I am an Arsenal fan. The whole C. Ronaldo debacle has been more detrimental in my opinion as Madrid have focused on that issue rather than trying to make sure that the squad doesn't have any wholes on the team. I've said before that this team has gotten to know each other pretty well since last season and only slight tweaks like the signing of Van der Vaart was needed.
I don't know if the team doesn't need another striker to solidify that position. I am a big fan of Saviola and Higuain but besides Higuain's heroics off the bench, I haven't really seen that much of them to be crazy about. The talent is right there and you can see with Saviola in the past and Higuain's ability that these two could be starters in a different team. There have been numerous players in the recent past such as Cicinho and Cassano, who are in their own right great players but they just don't fit on the team and I think Saviola has been in that same path. It also doesn't make any sense to lose Soldado without replacing him as it wasn't fair that any of the three mentioned players rarely didn't get the chance that they deserved. When Ruud went down last year, Raul played that lone striker or even Baptista came in as a forward which makes me confused as to the direction that the upper management is heading. I can't really fault the manager but the president has been obsessed with one big name (first it was Kaka, now C. Ronaldo) to play in Madrid.
One last issue is that the other power teams in La Liga have been doing quite well in the pre-season. Barca have definitely strengthen the squad with their summer signings and are playing well together in previous matches. Time well tell if they can keep that unity during the upcoming season. Valencia will probably bounce back as they look to keep both David's although Villa has a slight chance of going to Madrid. That team is just too good on paper to play the way they played last season. And Sevilla has always been a proverbial team, with players who have played with each other. They have lost some key players this year, but I guarantee you that they can challenge the top teams this year with the players they have. And last but certainly not the least is Villareal who was fairly quiet this year which is not exactly a bad thing as they have a good group of squad as well.
Certainly Madrid will have a harder time defending the league this year. I really don't know that all of Madrid's problems will be solved if C. Ronaldo comes to Madrid this year. I do want C. Ronaldo to come to Madrid eventually but so much focus on signing him that we might overlook the other important things causing more problems in the coming season. The good news is that we do have Van der Vaart now which is a step in the right direction. Thanks.
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Dakota Rubin 11 months ago
Neil, thank you very much for the comment.
So much of what you have to say is so true. It will be interesting once Sneijder is healthy to see if they play the three dutch players in the midfield together. They are all fantastically talented players and we saw what the Dutch national team could do when it was clicking, so it will be interesting to see if that is the direction they will go.
I agree with you completely on the transfer of Ronaldo—Real has spent way too much time focused on a big name. And because of this they have neglected the defense that has the potential to be very good but has not seemed to pull it together yet. With the injury to Cannavaro and with Metzelder not proving much, there will be immense pressure on Ramos and Casillas. And while Casillas did just fine facing the most shots in the league last season, I would like to see some more help in front of him. I really like the possibility of holding on to Garay instead of sending him out on loan. We need another central defender.
As you say, the league is not going to be a picnic this season. I expect Barcelona to be there until the very end and their preseason form has been scary good. Villarreal is also a team to watch out for. They have a ton of talent (Rossi, Nihat, and Llorante make up one of the best attacking groups in the league) and after a spectacular season they will not be short on competitive guile.
A team that you did not mention that I believe could make some noise is Atletico. They have made some big moves this offseason and have a great group (especially up front and in the midfield). It will be interesting to see what they are able to do this weekend against Schalke in Champions League qualifying.
La Liga will be tighter than it has been in years. Teams one through about five or six all have a chance to be there at the end and that should create a great year for the league.
Thanks.
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Gonzalo 11 months ago
Well, CR has just said he'll be at Manchester United "next season" (whatever that means), so it looks like Robinho will be staying after all...
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