Rafael van der Vaart puts his teammates to shame
Rafael Van Der Vaart will surely go down as one of the greatest signings in Premiership history. So far this season, the £8m signing has scored ten goals and created seven assists. It seems, in Tottenham he has found a club willing to build their side around him, and that suits him down to a tee. The side may have not yet recreated the 4th position finish in the Premier League of last year, but they are in the last 8 of the Champions Legue and widely regarded as one of the most exciting teams in Europe.
Van Der Vaart has a lot of confidence both on the pitch and off it. I think this self-belief is vital to Tottenham if they are going to achieve great things. He is not afraid of anyone and never shows any signs of fear. This is something the other players at White Hart Lane should learn from because at times I think Tottenham are guilty of being soft.
At the San Siro, he was the only player to get in the face of Flamini for his tackle that injured Corluka. On the whole, the reaction to the tackle from the Tottenham players was tame, but Van Der Vaart was not. He was passionate to defend his team-mate Corluka, and outraged that Flamini should encourage the fans cheer an illegal tackle. It was a big occasion in front of an intimidating crowd, but Van Der Vaart showed his passion and did not hide away.
In the return leg at White Hart Lane Flamini, again, left the ground with two feet in a tackle on Benoit Assou-Ekotto. It doesn’t matter if Flamini wins the ball, leaving the ground with both feet is dangerous. Furthermore if Ekotto had shielded it, he would have broken his leg. Van Der Vaart, yet again, was the only man (fans excluded) to have a go at Flamini.
Spurs need that kind of fighting sprit. I’m not questioning anyone‘s effort or commitment, Dawson, Gallas, Sandro and others showed great determination against Milan, but at times I feel Tottenham are a bit too nice. For example, Bale has been told off by Harry in the past for being too soft and for shaking a player’s hand after he has been badly fouled. Players like Lennon and Modric have no presence which will sway a referee’s decision. Even Crouch often smiles and looks frustrated rather than outraged.
Even Barcelona, who have the opposite reputation of a dirty side, rush to the referee to make a decision to ‘protect their players‘. In reality they just want to see their side win. At the Nou Camp, players pressured the referee to get Van Persie booked for a foul on DanI Alves. This offence was not as dangerous as Flamini’s tackle on Corluka or Assou-Ekotto.
I’m not saying Tottenham need to cheat, but it is important to be bold, and at times a bit nasty. If five players had complained to the referee, Flamini could have been sent off in both legs. He definitely did not deserve to be on the pitch at the end of the game at the San Siro. If Tottenham are going to progress into the side they have the potential to become, they need to be more gritty and at times show more fighting spirit, like Van Der Vaart.
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I don’t want to see my team behave like Chelsea.
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Excellent article.. u need some fighting spirit, and thats precisely why i think rafa should be made vice captain!!! GET IN THERE
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Van der Vaart is the most technically gifted player on the pitch….usually.
Van der Vaart can change the course of a game in the blink of an eye.
Van der Vaart is too greedy and costs spurs games when he is ‘not in the mood’.
Van der Vaart has scored 1 goal from open play against the bigger teams (Inter Milan).
Discuss.
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Mabbsman Reply:
March 15th, 2011 at 10:18 am
This is a bit harsh! For even though its clear VDV has fitness issues & injury concerns- he always appears to be one of the most dangerous players, apart from Bale, we have. Even a half-fit VDV is more potent than the other 3 strikers. Let’s hope Defoe, has turned a corner bcos he needs to go on a scoring spree- and hopefully starting vs the hammers. Defoe 3 West Ham 2.
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Doc Reply:
March 15th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
Harry Redknapp and Daniel Levy have a greater understanding of football then Vanderfart both in the short term and long term.
Discuss
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Excellent article, much better than that utter utter rubbish (bol)OxfordSpur wrote earlier today on vital.
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Totally agree, this is why I believe we have been after Scott Parker, Bellamy, etc – some dogs of war who’ll step up and snarl
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So, what you are actually saying is that Spurs should follow the actions of Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea etc by surrounding referees and offending players? Surely they should be commended for showing some restraint and respect for the officials and opposition rather then resorting to handbags at dawn type behaviour.
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SpurredoninDublin Reply:
March 14th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
Fully agree with what you say.
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dan mac Reply:
March 14th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
i don’t know if you’ve noticed that the point you’ve made shows that behaviour happens to occur at teams currently or consistently more successful than us… maybe we should climb down off our pedestal and stop being whiter than white and show a winning mentality!
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SpurredoninDublin Reply:
March 14th, 2011 at 10:25 pm
The real problem is not that we are pussies, but that the teams who indulge in this behaviour are generally not punished for their lack of respect.
I was reading an article about this elsewhere today. There seems to be a school of thought that if a ref were to book (e.g.) Rooney for harassing him, he might then be too scared to issue a second card if he then goes in with a two-footed challenge.The players are only as much a problem as the referees let them be.
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blaineyyid Reply:
March 14th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
Its not saying be like them, just have a bit of bite! I dont know about you but i like to see the boy`s stand up and stick together and not take the pi** out of us,one in all in!!
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blaineyyid Reply:
March 14th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
sorry , i meant other teams take the pi** out of us
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“Rafael Van Der Vaart will surely go down as one of the greatest signings in Premiership history”
That’s a bit of a bold statement don’t you think? Of course RvdV is a fantastic footballer and we are lucky to have someone of his calibre at the club but the guy has only been here this season and to be honest nagging injuries have subdued his performances of late compared to the bombastic all action impact he had in the first half of the season. Perhaps there were games where Harry could have rested him or have him to come on the bench and gone with a conventional two up front like Pav/Crouch & Defoe. I’m not saying anything against him as I’d rather have him in the team than not and hopefully as we get to the business end of the season he will come back into top form but let’s have a bit of perspective here.
But yeah I go along with you to a degree in terms of Spurs teams tend to not have that sprinkling of characters that have that ‘bit of the devil’ in their make up or a nasty win at all costs streak that the other teams that win stuff do such as Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal (I know the Arse haven’t won anything for a few years but I would say Fabregas, Nasri, RVP and potentially Wilshere have some of that).
The paradox is do we have to resort to the lowest denominator in order to win the top honours i.e. do we want our players to be good at the dark arts of knowing tactically how to pressure the officials, knowing when to make more of an injury or take a well judged tumble to gain a penalty or a free kick in a good position, or know how to get away without a booking while doing a cynical fouls (like Vidic and half the Chelsea team!).
I guess if I’m honest I wouldn’t mind if we had one or two of those dirty cynical players in our side but then we’re back to the lowest common denominator argument again. Having said all that I would say injuries have been more of a problem for us this season as they have conspired to make it difficult to sustain enough momentum for the top spots in the league.
Anyway it’s March we are 5th in the league and in the quarter finals of the Champions League so still all to play for. And what better way for Spurs to acquire a ruthless streak than to get back the 3 points from a resurgent West Ham who had the temerity to take them from us earlier in the season.
COYS!
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benji Reply:
March 14th, 2011 at 8:34 pm
VDV may have been a bit injured but has still scored 10 PL goals.
rafa is one of the best signings in recent history because of his value for money alone.
Carroll, £35m
Torres, £50m
have scored 20 (11+9) PL goals this year. £4.25m per goal
VDV has scored 10. £0.8m.
I doubt there has been a better signing before him and will be one after, especially if transfer fees continue to rise the way they have done.
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RedDEvil Reply:
March 15th, 2011 at 6:39 am
there has been a better signin than him..in chicharito
van der vaart was a good established player but considerin his age an hes already at his best..one would value him at 25mill van der vaart no doubt has been influential scoring 10 goals but hernandez has scored 12 in much lesser gamesand is young..no one knew of him before united signed him unlike van der vaart..ccmon seriously did u doubt van der vaart would be a flop signin wen he signed??
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Next bus to woolwich! Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 10:43 am
Shut up!
look at at these where we were to NICE
clattenburg man utd lost 2-0
clattenburg man u v wigan rooney
clattenburg man utd no goal mendez
clattenburg penalty renaldo
webb none penalty man u
webb defoe none goal webb screwed up big time nobody complained.
i am sure their is a list as long as my arm and it P******s me off
and as for peter crouches grin that really does p*** me off
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I love Rafa. Agree he is the only player to stand up for his team mates. As for Crouchies smiling! It’s the best thing to do. Better to smile in the face of your opponent than lose your head!
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SpurredoninDublin Reply:
March 14th, 2011 at 10:34 pm
Regarding Crouch’s smile, I agree with what you say. I noticed that the AC team found a way to play against him, back into him and then it looks like he is crawling all over you, result; attack foiled and you get a free kick.
Under those circumstances, you either smile, or you blow your top.
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im a united fan an play a lot of football i agree in playin the game in good spirit an nt influencin the ref but too stand up for a team mate or sme1 who has fouled u in malice should nt be backed away…if flamini had done that to my team mates nt 1nce but 2wice then id stand up for him no matter what
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