With the recent developments over the Sneijder saga, I couldn't resist but to write some of my thoughts at the prospect of Wesley Sneijder joining Manchester United. After watching Sir Alex's latest press conference, I thought some things were very telling. His focus was on youth and seemingly on the quality they bring. He wants to give them the credit he feels they deserve and I credit him for that. No one man is bigger than the club. We all know that Sneijder will be a very welcome acquisition. Fergie will not implement youngsters ala 94-95 season or start of 95-96 season. The environment of PL football and let alone modern football has changed and he can't do things as he used to. It doesnt mean he wont blood youth but he'll do it in an even smarter way. If you're for this transfer you could look at it like this.
Sometime ago Cantona says he sees a bit of himself in Sneijder. Now whether that's flattery is up to people's discretion. My point is when Fergie blooded through those youngsters, he found the catalyst in Cantona to give the necessary inspiration to the entire squad but more importantly the youngsters to get over the hump. Although Cantona and Sneijder are two different players and different mentalities so to speak, I still think Sneijder would be an inspiration to some of the youngsters we have here. We already have Scholes who is a genius by far and that's a blessing already. However Scholes has retired now so his inspiration is more so restricted to the training field as well as his words of advice. Sneijder imo, just brings that class and we've seen some of his inspiring performances, whether it was at Real, Inter or for Holland. The man is class and I'd think it would be a bit harsh to think otherwise. It doesn't matter if you've given up hope on his transfer or dont even want him to come or even think he is coming. He brings something special to just about any club he joins.
Now he may not have the same leadership qualities as Cantona but I definitely see him as a player that leads by example and I think it would be fantastic if our youngsters could learn from Sneijder. It would be his last move and I'm sure we could get 5 good years out of him. Imo, that's more than enough to steady the ship until the youngsters are truly ready to take the mantle. Right now, I see them as very close but not quite there yet. If we did sign Sneijder, I'd be a bit surprised if we signed anyone else as I think we would be covered for some time. Maybe a more defensively minded player but I dont think that's necessarily imminent at this point. Anyone that's been watching closely knows where our weaknesses lie in central midfield. While Sneijder might not be the most ideal fit in our minds, he would go some way in improving the quality that's in our squad let alone giving us more options as a team.
People have already said it but we cant replace Paul Scholes. The diminutive striker that molded his game into an all-around midfielder and one of the best if not the best CMs the premiership has ever seen. It's a shame his true quality won't be recognized and revered as it should. Even those in media that sing his praises dont get close to fully appreciating what a gift he is. Only fellow players, United fans, and managers seem to see his true quality. It proved that it's not all about size but what's in your cranium that matters. As I was always taught, 90% of the game is mental and 10% is physical and Scholesy's mastery of the mental game was more like 120%. He's just that fantastic.
Now we have the prospect of acquiring another special midfielder in Wesley Sneijder and I hope he does come for some of the reasons I've stated above but even if he doesn't, I'll put trust in Sir Alex. He's been such a long-time servant at this club that despite his mistakes, he has a much better idea than I ever would what this club needs. If it's not Sneijder then it's not Sneijder. We'll just have to move and get on with it anyway.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. The beautiful aspect of this club is that no matter what we don't stand still. Our lads proved it after the horrible tragedy that was/is the Munich Air Disaster. Winning the European Cup in 1968. We've shown it again with the reign of Sir Alex's dominance as we've done what no one expected. With the players we let go and the many times the media wrote us off at our peril. We've always responded. Sadly, all good things come to an end and I dread the day the man leaves the club as we all will. Even still, as long as our next manager respects and embraces our history and traditions that make up the club then I'm confident that this club will go on in the right manner.
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