In my opinion Wesley Sneijder was the single best transfer performed by any club last season. Inter Milan took advantage of big spending Real Madrid by landing the Flying Dutchman for nearly half of his market value due to the attacking midfielder becoming expendable with all the los galicticos signings.

Real Madrid simply overlooked their unselfish young playmaker and Sneijder moved to Italy where he enjoyed a historic treble-winning season as the engineer of the Italian powerhouses offense. Then to make his year arguably better than any other footballer in the world, Sneijder went on to spark his Clockwork Oranje club to a World Cup finals finish. No other single player achieved as much in both league play and international football as Sneijder did in 2010.

But I’m sure the brilliant run has been exhausting for the Dutchmen.

The year-round football schedule likely makes for a weary mind and body and it appears that the grueling week to week schedule has finally officially worn out Wesley Sneijder. Sneijder recently had a scary moment when he had a panic attack of sorts during halftime of last weekend’s Brescia match. The midfielder passed out after convulsing for a few moments and the diagnosis is that the star has anemia and his body is simply exhausted from being overworked over the last year.  

Sneijder told Dutch daily De Telegraaf this story about the injury:

I started to shake and felt pain in my entire body. In the changing room I got sick and passed out briefly. My heart and blood pressure were checked immediately. Later I traveled to the Netherlands for a second opinion. The conclusion was that I have anemia and my whole body is exhausted.

And the whole year round football thing is bound to eventually have its effect on players. Several players around the world have struggled to fully find their form and having no summer time to rest is obviously counterproductive to a successful league season beginning shortly after the finish of the World Cup. But Arjen Robben, Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres, and Diego Forlan all are examples of players that have yet to find their 2010/2011 groove that were either injured or exhausted from the World Cup.

I guess Sneijder’s name can be added to the list.   

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