Premier League Spurs - Arry's gone but we still dislike them...

[Davies4England]

The notion that VdV has been signed as "backup" for Modric is laughable: your knowledge of VdV is a joke tbh. Both players will be regular starters if fit - either as part of a 5-man midfield in a 4-5-1 formation, or else, in a 4-4-2, with Bale at LB, Modric in LM, Lennon in RW, VdV in central attacking midfield and one of Huddlestone, Palacios or Sandro sitting behind them. VdV can also play as 2nd striker in a 4-4-2.

That is weird...

Every Spurs fan I know says Bale isn't even half the player at LB which everyone has seen, Modric isn't a LM which has been proven as he shines in the middle and you want to put him in a 4-4-2 diamond system which is barely used in modern day football for a reason. This would mean he'd have to play CM where he'd get simply overrun as he has never had defensive capabilities. Also when you say in a 4-4-2 off the striker that's a 4-5-1. The simply fact is, you have signed a player who can only play in a 4-5-1 system, when your side primarily plays 4-4-2. This meaning you either use the player to your disadvantage or you build the team around him.

Of course you will probably try to undermine me now thinking you know all about him since he is suddenley a Tottenham player.

[BOF]

van der Vaart endears himself to his new fans

Van der Vaart: United on another level

New Tottenham signing Rafael van der Vaart reckons Manchester United are the only club that can be compared with Real Madrid.

Dutch midfielder Van der Vaart completed a surprise deadline day move from the Bernabeu to Spurs.

He said: "I could never play for another club in Spain.

"If you are leaving Real Madrid, there is only one club that you can join that is not a step down - and that is Manchester United."

The Reds have been linked with 27-year-old Van der Vaart in the past, but the midfielder says he is "totally happy" with his move to White Hart Lane.

Nicely played, Rafa.

[GlastonSpur]

Why on Earth would any manager field that? Bale is a disasterous LB, as shown by his comical 2nd half at the weekend.

...

He really isn't. You may recall that it was his performances at LB for S'hampton which brought him to prominence in the first place. Sure, in the Prem he's had a few rickety games here and there at LB, but he's also had several very good games at LB for Spurs.

Harry has said that he sees Bale's long-term future as being at LB - and he's not a bad judge of players. Bale is still only 21 remember, and it isn't easy switching back and forth between the LB and LW positions, playing LB in one game, then LW in the next. Once he gets the LB slot on a regular basis I'm pretty sure he'll make it his own and do well there on a consistent basis.

I'm willing to bet that it won't be long before Harry switches Bale to LB more or less permanently.

... Modric, Lennon and vdV in the same midfield? And I think Villa's midfield is lightweight at times! It's also to easy to just nullify your width and smash you on the counter....

Why? We would still have Palacios, Huddlestone or Sandro sitting behind these players. Besides, the main ethos of the Spurs game is to play attacking football, which can mean risking the trade of a few losses here and there for the chance of a larger number of 3 point wins.

No offense Glaston, but you criticise BOF for picking and choosing regarding Rafa's stats (not wanting to count his Dutch League career), yet you basically said half of Villa's trophy count do not count when comparing us with you. You can't have it both ways.

I have never said that half of Villa's trophies "don't count". I have simply pointed out that the value of some of these trophies counts for less compared to trophies won in the post-Victorian era, when the league structure included a much much larger number of teams including teams like Spurs, Chelsea etc etc.

So there is no analogy with the goals scored by VdV for Ajax in the Dutch league. His goals there do count, just as Villa's trophy total includes those won in the Victorian era. You can that argue that his each goal for Ajax counts for less than each goal scored for Hamburg or Real Madrid or Holland - and I'd agree with that argument, But to remove them altogether from his impressive goals stats, as BOF wishes to do, is plain silly.

[kurtsimonw]

I'm only quoting this part because the other comments we made are purely opinion and I can't see us agreeing.

I have never said that half of Villa's trophies "don't count". I have simply pointed out that the value of some of these trophies counts for less compared to trophies won in the post-Victorian era, when the league structure included a much much larger number of teams including teams like Spurs, Chelsea etc etc.

So there is no analogy with the goals scored by VdV for Ajax in the Dutch league. His goals there do count, just as Villa's trophy total includes those won in the Victorian era. You can that argue that his each goal for Ajax counts for less than each goal scored for Hamburg or Real Madrid or Holland - and I'd agree with that argument, But to remove them altogether from his impressive goals stats, as BOF wishes to do, is plain silly.

Fair enough. I'm just pleased you said they do count, even if you feel they aren't as valuable as a titl won nowadays.

[BOF]

But to remove them altogether from his impressive goals stats, as BOF wishes to do, is plain silly.

I only removed them for your comparison to Lampard. Please read what I write.

[carew_villa]

Do Spurs fans think they could play Bale at left back and Modric and VDV both playing centre mid at the same time :shock:

They would get slaughtered at the back. I'd welcome them playing that though

[PompeyVillan]

van der Vaart endears himself to his new fans

Van der Vaart: United on another level

New Tottenham signing Rafael van der Vaart reckons Manchester United are the only club that can be compared with Real Madrid.

Dutch midfielder Van der Vaart completed a surprise deadline day move from the Bernabeu to Spurs.

He said: "I could never play for another club in Spain.

"If you are leaving Real Madrid, there is only one club that you can join that is not a step down - and that is Manchester United."

The Reds have been linked with 27-year-old Van der Vaart in the past, but the midfielder says he is "totally happy" with his move to White Hart Lane.

Nicely played, Rafa.

Hahahaha. That's too funny.

[MrWeedMcGrass]

They would need to move Modric to the left , where is not even half as effective as he is in the center.

[LondonLax]

VDV is not that great. I'd rate him at about 10mill so 8mill is a good deal but Harry is joking if he thinks anyone would believe Bayern would consider paying 18million for him.

What a surprise that it turned out to be another Harry Redknapp untruth...

Rafael van der Vaart leaves no place for Jonathan Woodgate at Tottenham•

Real Madrid deny Redknapp's Bayern claims

•

Rafael van der Vaart's £8m transfer to Tottenham Hotspur from Real Madrid was officially ratified by the Premier League this afternoon but there was some dispute from the Spanish side regarding Harry Redknapp's claim yesterday that Bayern Munich had been prepared to pay £18m for him before the move broke down. The Spurs manager said: "The fee has come crashing down because the deadline is so close."

Real's sports director, Miguel Pardeza, told the club's website: "It is absolutely false that Real Madrid received a €21m offer from Bayern Munich for Van der Vaart. In fact, the German team never showed an interest to sign the player, so the allegations made in England have greatly surprised us." Spurs have no further comment to make.

The club lodged the requisite paperwork with the Premier League close to yesterday's 6pm transfer window deadline and had to wait until today before Van der Vaart was officially confirmed as their player. His signing pushed the defender Jonathan Woodgate out of the 25-man squad for the first half of the league season, which was named by Redknapp today.

The 29-year-old Woodgate has played once in two years for the senior team. His exclusion will fuel speculation that his career may be under serious threat due to a chronic groin problem. Redknapp said last month of the injury: "It's so sad for Jonathan. He's such a good player and a great lad as well. He's been all round the world really, trying to find a cure for this groin problem. He's seen two specialists and he's going to get one more opinion but they seem to be of the opinion that the only chance is an operation."

The Holland playmaker Van der Vaart, who featured in the World Cup final, told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf: "Four years at Spurs, for €11m, I can hardly believe it myself. The interest from Tottenham came very quickly and I did not have much time to think. But I want to play football again and, if possible, every week, with a beautiful club. I'm totally happy."

He admitted concern regarding where he might fit into Redknapp's team, saying: "I am excited about playing in England. Whether it suits my style remains to be seen but I think a good footballer can adapt and I am very proud of this transfer." Van der Vaart was Redknapp's second signing on deadline day, following the loan deal for the Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa.

Guardian

[MrWeedMcGrass]

ol 'Arry's been talking out of his arse once again

[Zatman]

haha typical Harry making up facts

[Zatman]

van der Vaart endears himself to his new fans

Van der Vaart: United on another level

New Tottenham signing Rafael van der Vaart reckons Manchester United are the only club that can be compared with Real Madrid.

Dutch midfielder Van der Vaart completed a surprise deadline day move from the Bernabeu to Spurs.

He said: "I could never play for another club in Spain.

"If you are leaving Real Madrid, there is only one club that you can join that is not a step down - and that is Manchester United."

The Reds have been linked with 27-year-old Van der Vaart in the past, but the midfielder says he is "totally happy" with his move to White Hart Lane.

Nicely played, Rafa.

In fairness to VDV he made them comments about 3 weeks ago when he wanted a move to United. Earlier in summer he said same about Plop and Chelsea

[BOF]

In fairness to VDV he made them comments about 3 weeks ago when he wanted a move to United. Earlier in summer he said same about Plop and Chelsea

Ah right. Not quite as ill-advised so. Still they're the kind of comment that can come back to bite you on the arse

[GlastonSpur]

... No point talking 'sense' with this guy , every player they sign is **** world class and they will smash their way through every competition they are in.

Glaston has a life mission of going into other club forums and generally bigging spurs up , shooting down anything which remotely resembles a critical opinion. And it's not just VT ,he is omnipresent.

Van der vaart is overrated , the real big boys did not want him so he went to Spurs.

Another attacking midfielder in there. What amazing balance in the squad , I love it.

A typical mixture of lies, vast distortion and just plain old ignorance.

1) There are (edit) 19 other clubs in the Prem besides Spurs - I post on here and RedCafe: two forums out of (edit) 19. So much for "omni-present"

2) I have never claimed that any Spurs player is world-class, with the arguable exception of King and now VdV.

3) I have never said that Spurs "will smash their way through every competition they are in". For example, in relation to finishing 4th last season and making through the group stages of the CL this season, I have merely said we stood/stand a decent chance - which we did/do.

The problem with most of the critcisms on here is that they are just so weak: often not based on facts, badly argued, often based on nothing more than wishful thinking and sometimes with a good dose of bitterness thrown in. They often betray an amazing ignorance of various players: your calling VdV "over-rated" is a case in point.

[BOF]

A typical mixture of lies, vast distortion and just plain old ignorance.

1) There are 17 other clubs in the Prem besides Spurs - I post on here and RedCafe: two forums. So much for "omni-present"

2) I have never claimed that any Spurs player is world-class, with the arguable exception of King and now VdV.

3) I have never said that Spurs "will smash their way through every competition they are in". For example, in relation to finishing 4th last season and making through the group stages of the CL this season, I have merely said we stood/stand a decent chance - which we did/do.

Well #1 must be the lie cuz there's 19. #2 is the vast distortion and that must mean #3 is ignorance?

[BOF]

The 5 reasons why Rafael van der Vaart is just the Consolation Prize After Tottenham's Transfer Window Failure

No club plays the transfer window game like Tottenham.

Their frantic last-minute buying and selling has become as much a feature of deadline day as Sky Sports News reporters marooned outside training grounds waiting for players, managers or club officials to drop them a crumb of information.

As the White Hart Lane transfer roulette wheel spins and the white ball dances, it is not just Tottenham fans that are held in an inferno of suspense. Chips stacked on anything from Premier League household names to foreign A-listers and unheralded youngsters offer the promise of excitement or groans, hope or despair, footballing riches or impoverishment.

For a club whose finances stand up to the tightest of scrutiny – they announced record pre-tax profits of £33.4 million in their last set of financial results – Tottenham seem oddly addicted to risk in the transfer market.

Some pay off, some don’t but, like the hardened gambler who can’t shake his fix, Spurs are always at the roulette table, hedging their bets as the clock ticks down.

Rafael van der Vaart turned out to be their last throw of the dice in the summer window after they had failed to land dozens of other targets, from the absurdly expensive Edin Dzeko to the freebie Joe Cole.

Yet even a former Real Madrid star and World Cup finalist is regarded as a consolation prize in the light of a summer that had promised so much, but delivered so little. Here, Goal.com UK analyses the five reasons why Tottenham failed to live up to expectations.

1. Wage structure

Tottenham are big spenders but not – in Premier League terms – massive payers. Only Manchester City and Chelsea have splashed out more money in the transfer market than Tottenham since 2003 but Spurs do not keep up with the big boys when it comes to salaries.

A common refrain among agents is that chairman Daniel Levy will not sanction monster wages. Manchester United have been relatively frugal in their spending in recent years but they were still able to give Nemanja Vidic a £90,000-a-week new contract. Spurs’ top earner is Luka Modric on £70,000-a-week, a figure comfortably exceeded by the majority of Man City’s first-team squad.

Spurs have missed out on many of their summer transfer targets because they were unwilling to finance the type of packages that have become commonplace among the established Champions League clubs.

Yet it would be incorrect to paint Spurs as misers. Levy had put together a £90,000-a-week, three-year contract to entice Luis Fabiano to White Hart Lane and was also willing to shatter the club’s wage structure to sign Edin Dzeko and Diego Forlan, among others.

2. Young Boys defeat

Tottenham were fortunate to draw Young Boys in their Champions League qualifier but the 3-2 first leg defeat was a crucial blow to their transfer scheming.

Levy had told supporters in an email exchange on the day of the match that he was hoping for a “massive” win, the logic being that a comfortable away leg victory would have given him the confidence to finalise one of the many irons he had in the fire safe in the knowledge that the club had safely landed among the elite in the lucrative group stages. It would be another eight days – August 25 – before Spurs’ 4-0 second-leg success guaranteed their entry.

3. Levy's love of brinkmanship

It is far too simplistic to call Harry Redknapp a wheeler-dealer, as one television reporter found out to his cost when the Spurs manager swore at him in disgust and stomped out of a filmed interview. That might have been true in the days when managers used to personally negotiate contracts and transfer deals but very few top-level bosses do that now.

The real wheeler-dealer at White Hart Lane is Levy, whose title is chairman but he is effectively chief executive, too. The Spurs head honcho is renowned in the business as a tough negotiator, as Manchester United might attest after shelling out the best part of £50m for Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Carrick.

But it works both ways and Spurs have lost out on many of their transfer targets this summer because Levy was unwilling to go the extra mile and sign off on big money deals. He flew out to Germany to push through a move for Dzeko but baulked at the £35m asking price and was unwilling to up the club’s bid for Ashley Young beyond £20m or offer the winger more than £70,000-a-week.

Yet Spurs’ impotence in the window was not all Levy’s fault. He had agreed a move with AC Milan for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar but Redknapp pulled out at the last minute because he did not believe the Dutchman was an improvement on the four strikers he already has at his disposal.

4. Scattergun transfer policy

It is hard to avoid the impression that there was an air of desperation to Tottenham’s transfer policy, certainly over the last 48 hours of the window when they were fumbling around for any player who could add some feel-good factor, even if he was not an original target.

Few are doubting that £8m represents good value for a player of Rafael Van der Vaart’s calibre but Spurs are already overloaded with technically adroit midfield ball players. What they badly needed was a world class striker who could guarantee 25 goals a season and lead the attack in the manner of a Didier Drogba or Fernando Torres.

Levy set aside £25m to get Dzeko, Forlan or Luis Suarez but Spurs ended up trying to seal moves for Emmanuel Adebayor, Guiseppe Rossi and Ryan Babel as the transfer clock ticked down. William Gallas was brought in to bolster the defence because Manchester City were unwilling to sell Micah Richards to a Champions League rival. It was a similar case with Craig Bellamy, another big summer target for Spurs.

It could be said that Tottenham were unfortunate but the most successful clubs do not tend to leave their biggest summer move until the final seconds of the window. It is hardly comparing like for like but Man City did most of their buying in May and June.

5. Shirt sponsor

Tottenham announced a £30 m unique double sponsorship deal this summer after splitting with Mansion but did not complete the first part of the deal with Autonomy until July 8 and the second part with Investec until August 17.

How big an effect this had on their ability to sanction transfers in the first half of the summer only Spurs know, but it cannot be a coincidence that Brazilian midfielder Sandro was the only confirmed signing before Gallas joined on 22 August.

[BOF]

Number 4 in that article is the most pertinent IMO.

[wiggyrichard]

Great find, good read that!

On a side note, why the hell would they want Guiseppe Rossi?!?! :?

[MrWeedMcGrass]

... No point talking 'sense' with this guy , every player they sign is **** world class and they will smash their way through every competition they are in.

Glaston has a life mission of going into other club forums and generally bigging spurs up , shooting down anything which remotely resembles a critical opinion. And it's not just VT ,he is omnipresent.

Van der vaart is overrated , the real big boys did not want him so he went to Spurs.

Another attacking midfielder in there. What amazing balance in the squad , I love it.

A typical mixture of lies, vast distortion and just plain old ignorance.

1) There are 17 other clubs in the Prem besides Spurs - I post on here and RedCafe: two forums out of 17. So much for "omni-present"

2) I have never claimed that any Spurs player is world-class, with the arguable exception of King and now VdV.

3) I have never said that Spurs "will smash their way through every competition they are in". For example, in relation to finishing 4th last season and making through the group stages of the CL this season, I have merely said we stood/stand a decent chance - which we did/do.

The problem with most of the critcisms on here is that they are just so weak: often not based on facts, badly argued, often based on nothing more than wishful thinking and sometimes with a good dose of bitterness thrown in. They often betray an amazing ignorance of various players: your calling VdV "over-rated" is a case in point.

Ok Mr. Literal , you did not say those things. :|

The criticisms are perfect valid imo , especially regarding VDV's signing. He is not capable of playing as a CM in this league , the only place he CAN effectively play is as an attacking central playmaker, which coincidentally happens to be Luka Modric's favoured and best position.

You have two options.

a)Play VDV in center and shift Modric back to the left , rendering him ineffective.

b)Play both of them together in midfield with a DM behind them(Very weak, will be annihilated in the PL)

Bale at LB is error prone , as has been seen from his performances in that position. You are just speculating that he will be good enough or that position if played regularly there by Harry. As of now , he is disastrous in that position and that is how I will continue to see him unless he proves me wrong.

So you have a lightweight first 11 that should get hammered against the top teams , especially in the PL. In Europe , you might get away with it because it is less physical but the PL will punish you.

[MrWeedMcGrass]

And if Bayern had really come in for VDV , do you actually think he would have chosen Spuds over Bayern Munich?

Face it , you got him because none of the big guys wanted him. He is a good player but I don't even think he is the best attacking mid in your squad.