Van Der Vaart plays down sub row.

[Derry-Yid]

Rafael van der Vaart is confident any issues with Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp over his reaction to being substituted against West Ham will have "blown over" by the time he returns from international duty.

 The Holland midfielder headed straight down the tunnel when, for the 17th time this season, he was replaced during Spurs' frustrating goalless draw at White Hart Lane on Saturday.

Redknapp was less than impressed by the Dutchman's actions, claiming in his post-match interview: "If you are part of a team you should stay to watch the rest of the game."

However, Van der Vaart insists he was not showing a lack of respect, just disappointment at not being able to see out the full match.

Speaking to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Van der Vaart said: "I read that Harry Redknapp wanted to talk with me, but I did not see him before I left for Holland.

"But at Tottenham they cannot be angry with me. I also did the same thing against AC Milan [in the Champions League].

"I played well, and did not find the substitution necessary. Often I like to play 90 minutes, but at Spurs that hardly ever happens. I wont be back for 10 days, by then a lot of it will have blown over."

Van der Vaart is expected to play a central role for the Dutch as they look to stay on course for Euro 2012 in their Group E double header against second-placed Hungary.


I didnt think he was taken off 17 times...thats a lot....imo, he hasn't being playing that well of late....he still should be sitting with the rest of his team mates on the bench to the end of the game tho...heading off down the tunnel shows a lack of respect to manager and team mates imo.
He should know better!



 

[bigv]

Biggs has started a thread on the exact same topic. No one is bigger than the club and vdv needs to respect this. He isnt near match fitness and should acknowledge this. A spell in the sidelines may be on the cards as Im sure harry wont take it lying down. Id like to see Pav get a decent run in the side but will it happen?

[aspursfan]

For me this really isn't the end of the world. Yes, he should stay to watch the rest of the game, but being frustrated that he's been subbed obviously means he cares.

[Holtspur]

Yep, I agree SF. If everyone had the same passion it would be marvellous.

[Gareth Keown]

so, Vaart was showing his passion for the cause when he showed his displeasure at being substituted,.... I think therefore EVERY player who is subbed henceforth should show their passion for the club too by displaying what 'appears to be' petulance at being subbed, by ignoring the rest of the match and go for a 'rub-down' in the dressing-room...

any player who does not conform to this behaviour, and insists on staying pitchside seemingly 'happy' to be subbed and watchinmg the rest of the game should be ostracised and booed by the fans and scolded by the management after the match, for a lack of interest and passion for his team and fellow teammates...

[millers-tach]

For me this really isn't the end of the world. Yes, he should stay to watch the rest of the game, but being frustrated that he's been subbed obviously means he cares.

2 threads same subject 
 
I agree with asf ........as i said on the other thread!
 
I also agree with bigv and his nobody bigger than the club comment, i just dont feel that we are at that stage yet as it was hardly a throw away the shirt effort.

[Derry-Yid]

For me this really isn't the end of the world. Yes, he should stay to watch the rest of the game, but being frustrated that he's been subbed obviously means he cares.

Its not the end of the world, but its not nice on your team mates either...what do they think, when they see him storming off down the tunnel?...at the end of the day its a team game/effort and he should be sitting onto the end of the game, showing his support for the rest of the players on the team....i take your point about him caring, but surly if he wants to make a point about it, he can knock on the managers door and speak to him in private on the matter...storming off door the tunnel only brings unwanted attention onto himself,the manager and the club.

He came through the ranks at Ajax, so he really should know better...i wouldn't think he was taught that there anyway!!

[aspursfan]

For me this really isn't the end of the world. Yes, he should stay to watch the rest of the game, but being frustrated that he's been subbed obviously means he cares.

Its not the end of the world, but its not nice on your team mates either...what do they think, when they see him storming off down the tunnel?...at the end of the day its a team game/effort and he should be sitting onto the end of the game, showing his support for the rest of the players on the team....i take your point about him caring, but surly if he want to make a point about it, he can knock on the managers door and speak to him...storming off door the tunnel only brings unwanted attention onto himself,the manager and the club.

He came through the ranks at Ajax, so he really should know better...i wouldn't think he was taught that there anyway!!

I think he's a bit sensitive about it. He probably feels like he didn't prove himself at Madrid. He had that incident playing for Holland as well when he was subbed. I'm not defending it and agree he should join his teammates, but I'm not going to blow it out of proportion. That's what the media is for. Hopefully he can have a chat with Harry and it doesn't become something bigger than it needs to be.

[taimedowne]

He does seem to have gone of the boil recently, he was on fire at the start of the season. I dont think he is fully fit and he is struggling to make an impact in games where he used to dominate. When he first joined he was all over the media saying how much he loved the club, the manager and the fans. I hope that he hasn't changed his mind.     

[Metalanimal]

He wants to play and play well for us, its a good sign.

His actions shows he gives a s**t and is passionate about playing for THFC only prob as already said he is lacking full match fitness and sharpness right now!

I hope Arry doesnt make a big deal out of it and we can go forward, IMO its not a big deal in any way!

[YidJoe24]

I think way too much has been made of this, on several occasions this season VDV has just put his jacket on and cheered from the sidelines, I think it was just built up frustration at the fact that he nevers seems to finish our games on the pitch which i cant understand

[Metalanimal]

Did anyone see The Sun today trying to twist VdV's quote when he said that us dropping points to lessers clubs i.e the 2 points we picked up in the last 9 was stupid!  as usual that rag that is forever full of support for us.... not, was trying to twist the quote that he was calling team mates stupid!

VdV has a valid point and fair play for speaking out saying that us dropping points to teams we should be steam rollering is stupid!  welcome to THFC its almost part of our traddition lol

[SexySpurs]

He does seem to have gone of the boil recently, he was on fire at the start of the season. I dont think he is fully fit and he is struggling to make an impact in games where he used to dominate. When he first joined he was all over the media saying how much he loved the club, the manager and the fans. I hope that he hasn't changed his mind.   

It cannot be denied that he does seem to tire from about 70 minutes onwards these days so I do not blame Harry for subbing him

[WilsonJet]

Gotta say Gareth Keown was right about this one. I didn't think Rafa walked down the tunnel because he was sulking but apparently that's exactly what went down. s**t like this is gonna happen, though. Just part of being a competitor. Harry has addressed it -- good for him.

I'll probably get tore down for this but I'm also beginning to see GK's point about van der Vaart being difficult to shoehorn into the lineup. He's an obvious talent and I'm very pleased he's a Spur, however he doesn't fit any of the roles that we prefer in our best style of play. When we try to make room for him another part of our game suffers. When he was fully fit that wasn't the case because he had a little more energy and burst to create and do his van der Vaart thing. I do see this becoming an issue because he may not be a regular starter in our system. In fact, I can see how his best position for Spurs might be the role of super sub!

Rafa's not going to go for that, though. If he doesn't start every game and then play every minute of the match -- he's going to want to move on. It's already starting to head that way. I think Harry realizes this and wants to keep him so he has desperately been trying to figure out how to use the player. Think that's why Madrid cut him loose? He just doesn't fit a traditional role. Not quite a forward - not quite a winger - too unreliable to run the show in the middle. He's an attacking midfielder but if you put him on you have to sacrifice a player with a more defensive set of skills and range of play. He's a very difficult player to manage, but at the same time he's clearly a fantastic footballer. Even on FIFA11 I can't figure out how to use him. I know that's a sorry comparison, but I genuinely play much better with Spurs in the 4-4-2 without him.

[imarichard]

harry needs to keep him sweet