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Rafa van der Vaart

kmk

Well-Known Member
Oct 5, 2014
4,146
27,502
Not in my lifetime has a player had such an immediate impact upon arriving at the club (maybe only Klinsmann came close). Absolute legend. Loved him and still gutted about him leaving

David Ginola too.
 

dagraham

Well-Known Member
Sep 20, 2005
19,115
46,080
Such a baller! Probably the saddest I've been about a player leaving the club.

Agree. Campbell I was just plain angry, Carrick I was quite upset, Berbatov I was annoyed but resigned, Modric was expected, Bale was expected.

VDV came out of the blue and I was simply gutted.
 
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yido_number1

He'll always be magic
Jun 8, 2004
8,646
16,809
Agree. Campbell I was just plain angry, Carrick I was quite upset, Berbatov I was annoyed but resigned, Modric was expected, Bale was expected.

VDV came out of the blue and I was simply gutted.
You summed it up pretty well, Campbell can f off, Carrick was gutting as we were getting somewhere but not devastating, Berbs I hated when he left cos of the way he went about it and Modric and Bale were just inevitable. VDV came out of nowhere and was by far my favourite player at the time.
 

ajspurs

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2007
22,987
31,167
I know there are other more 'suitable' candidates but he's probably been my favourite Spurs player. The way he became attached to the club and showed so much passion, yet at the same time displayed so much class and ability with the ball at his feet too. Will always remember his celebrations when scoring against Arsenal, he really knew just how important a win in those games was to the fans.

In searching for his shhh celebration image I came across this too, what a fucking legend.

 

aussiespursguy

Well-Known Member
Mar 21, 2015
3,437
6,677
Should be our next ambassador. Love the man. Just sad we couldn't get him when he left Ajax. He was amazing in Germany with Hamburg.
My favourite player of the modern era, period. ❤

 

Kiedis

Well-Known Member
Aug 4, 2013
2,926
8,490
Imagine thinking Gylfi Siggurdson was a better player than Rafa. Well done AVB

AVB told him to fight for his place. But I guess, knowing how van der Vaart responds to such challenges, it was as good as a foot through his arse.
 

-Afri-Coy-

Well-Known Member
Jun 26, 2012
5,838
18,570
I know there are other more 'suitable' candidates but he's probably been my favourite Spurs player. The way he became attached to the club and showed so much passion, yet at the same time displayed so much class and ability with the ball at his feet too. Will always remember his celebrations when scoring against Arsenal, he really knew just how important a win in those games was to the fans.

In searching for his shhh celebration image I came across this too, what a fucking legend.



Fond memories of that Derby, he was Spurs through and through from the second he walked through the doors.
 

peter_the_yid

Well-Known Member
Jun 8, 2003
2,015
353
The 3-3 was my first NLD, Huddlestone thunderbolt in there somewhere as I recall.
Loved Van Der Vaart, one of my favourites of all time.
Bale, VDV, King, Modric, Defoe, our first foray into the Champions League, Gomes coming off his goal line to demolish everyone, team mates included, what a season.
 

aliyid

Well-Known Member
Dec 28, 2004
6,944
19,929
He did fuck all after leaving us though.
From memory the only reason he left was to go back to Germany in a last ditch attempt to save his marriage. It wasn’t a footballing decision but his marriage still fell apart anyway (could be wrong)
 

yido_number1

He'll always be magic
Jun 8, 2004
8,646
16,809
From memory the only reason he left was to go back to Germany in a last ditch attempt to save his marriage. It wasn’t a footballing decision but his marriage still fell apart anyway (could be wrong)
VDV did an interview where he said that AVB told him he wasn't the man any more. I think the quote was 'When what's his name [Andre Villas-Boas] came he said to me 'you're not my number one' and I had played two years, like, unbelievable, so for me it was really strange that he said that to me. So then I said, well, it's better to leave and that is what happened.'
 

RikkiRocket

Well-Known Member
Jul 21, 2015
1,605
3,277
VDV did an interview where he said that AVB told him he wasn't the man any more. I think the quote was 'When what's his name [Andre Villas-Boas] came he said to me 'you're not my number one' and I had played two years, like, unbelievable, so for me it was really strange that he said that to me. So then I said, well, it's better to leave and that is what happened.'

He probably also said Sylvie had walked into a door, when he’d banged her in the face the night before. Great player. Shitty Human.
 

slartibartfast

Grunge baby forever
Oct 21, 2012
18,320
33,955
From memory the only reason he left was to go back to Germany in a last ditch attempt to save his marriage. It wasn’t a footballing decision but his marriage still fell apart anyway (could be wrong)
I got lambasted for this not long ago on this thread. As others have said, AVB didn't want him, which sums up what a total dumb useless shit AVB was imo.
 

RikkiRocket

Well-Known Member
Jul 21, 2015
1,605
3,277
I got lambasted for this not long ago on this thread. As others have said, AVB didn't want him, which sums up what a total dumb useless shit AVB was imo.

maybe AVB wanted a player he could rely on week in week out that didn’t have constant knee injuries. Not saying Gylfi filled vdv’s boots at all. But he was constantly shagged out.
 

spursfan77

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2005
46,680
104,957

He also explains why being told by Andre Villas-Boas that he was no longer first-choice felt like a “slap in the face”, but that leaving “was the most stupid mistake in my career.”
 

Kiedis

Well-Known Member
Aug 4, 2013
2,926
8,490
I got lambasted for this not long ago on this thread. As others have said, AVB didn't want him, which sums up what a total dumb useless shit AVB was imo.

AVB also told Michael Dawson he was behind Gallas, Caulker and Vertonghen in the pecking order. The difference was that Dawson fought for his place, won it, and ended up having one of his best seasons for us. Which sums up both Dawson and VdV.
 
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