Rafael Van Der Vaart ...Come and get me ?

[ROCCO]

Real Madrid star Rafael Van Der Vaart last night said:- “I’ll join a big Premier League club if I’m given a starting spot.”

Dutchman Van Der Vaart, 27, pinpointed Chelsea and Liverpool as his preferred choices if he came to England. Midfield maestro Van der Vaart, who cost Real £13 million from Hamburg in 2008, isn’t sure of a Bernabeu first-team place under new coach Jose Mourinho.

He said:- “I have heard of the interest from Liverpool and Chelsea – and that is very flattering. If either of them were willing to offer me first-team football, I will be honest that it would be very hard for me to not listen to what they had to say. I think I have the relationship with Madrid where they understand my position and would let me hold talks. ”

‘‘I expect the majority of transfers to be concluded in the next two weeks, and if Chelsea or Liverpool wanted to talk with me I would at the very least listen to what they have to say. They are both giants, and if they could offer first-team football it may prove impossible to turn down.”


‘‘Real Madrid is the most prestigious club in the world and I am happy here and also in Spain, but I am at the age where I have to be playing first-team football. I am getting to the point where I will be hitting my peak years and I need to spend those years at a club where I will be playing regularly. The boss knows how much he plans to use me, and if he is willing to listen to offers for me.”


And, Van Der Vaart, who has been capped 83 times for the Netherlands, added:- “I wouldn’t be willing to play for any clubs in Spain out of respect for Madrid, so in my eyes the only other place to go would be the Premier League. It’s the only league that competes with the standard of La Liga.”


http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football/view/146060/Rafael-van-der-Vaart-revs-up-for-a-Premier-League-switch/


Nice picture of him , he sure has changed ...

[ROCCO]

Think we have enough with Joe and Alberto

[Terry Conlon]

He can stay in Madrid thanks!

[Irishlad]

He's a much better option to go into the season with then Aquilani. We don't really need him though while the Italian is here.

[killian]

How would we manage to get him? Is he on a free? any cover / starter in Mid field is welcome as no guarantee Aqua will stay fit!

and if you do come you have to earn your spot, no guarantee's!

[ROCCO]

How would we manage to get him? Is he on a free? any cover / starter in Mid field is welcome as no guarantee Aqua will stay fit!

and if you do come you have to earn your spot, no guarantee's!

My guess ..

£10m+

[ecowarrior10]

I'd have him.

[ROCCO]

I'd have him.

Id rather spend the money on a left back ? or a striker like Huntelaar;)

[ecowarrior10]

I like the Left Back we have ¬¬
and Huntelarr can **** right off :L

[babbsnads]

I like the Left Back we have ¬¬
and Huntelarr can **** right off :L

What left back do we have?

[ecowarrior10]

insua or hAS he left ive just got back from a week of camping lol

[Terry Conlon]

Take Huntelaar in a heart beat but think LFC enquired about a loan deal for him! He is 10 times the striker Remy is. As for de jong, good player but I think he thinks that he is Van Damme!

I'd have JAR back as a left back & would be cheap.

[babbsnads]

insua or hAS he left ive just got back from a week of camping lol

Think it's a done deal mate. Fiorentina

[dubit10]

No thanks

[nulty_pj]

I think Van der Vaaart is good but not the position we need.

What we are really lacking is genuine width on the left. Elia or young would be ideal.

[ROCCO]

I like the Left Back we have ¬¬
and Huntelarr can **** right off :L

We don't have a left back with more than likely Insua going to Italy for £5m ..


and imo Huntelarr on loan with a view to a permanent buy for £10-12m would be a great signing , only 26 with 290 games and 186 goals.

[glen]

Newspaper gossip

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Real Madrid midfielder Rafael van der Vaart is eyeing a move to Manchester United after becoming one of four players put up for sale. The Dutchman said: "If you are leaving Real Madrid, there is only one club that is not a step down - and that's Manchester United."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/default.stm

[Gray72]

Yeah he wants to join the scum!! We'd sooners splash big cash on the likes of Aquilani! What a lift a buy like him would be for the club and maybe we could forget the circus that surrounds Aquilani?

[Bren100]

His agent has been busy talking ...

Holland international Rafael van der Vaart says that if he is forced out of Real Madrid then Manchester United would be his preferred destination.

Van der Vaart is reportedly on his way out of the Santiago Bernabeu with Real now set to trim their star-studded squad following a host of summer arrivals - including Mesut Ozil.

[7Cannibal-9Asbo]

Muppet I'd have taken him if we were losing Aquilani but I can't see him ever getting to United considering their financial situation.

[travis]

He's not great , this is the second year Real have tried to get rid of him , Utd can't afford him anyway so he will probably be off to Germany or Turkey

[Bren100]

I think this lad is one, of not many foreign players, to hit the ground running in the Premiership, another goal today. Would have loved to have signed him but, and I don't blame him, the lure of Champions League football was too much. That and our club is a Yankee mess.

[graham]

I think this lad is one, of not many foreign players, to hit the ground running in the Premiership, another goal today. Would have loved to have signed him but, and I don't blame him, the lure of Champions League football was too much. That and our club is a Yankee mess.

Roy said we were never in for him.


Does anyone know what position he's been playing for Spurs?

[Carroll9]

Roy said we were never in for him.


Does anyone know what position he's been playing for Spurs?

It looks like he's playing behind Pav and Crouch.In a funny way Modric getting injured was a blessing in disguise for spurs.

[graham]

It looks like he's playing behind Pav and Crouch.In a funny way Modric getting injured was a blessing in disguise for spurs.

I thought that's where he'd be playing because they say he sulks when you put him out wide

[travis]

It must be all about Man Management because I always thought VDV was no big deal , Looks like Spurs have got a great buy and I must eat humble pie.

[vodkacolly]

It must be all about Man Management because I always thought VDV was no big deal , Looks like Spurs have got a great buy and I must eat humble pie.

Good start for him but early days.
Theres been many a Pool player to make a promising start but fade away.
Put the pie on hold for a while;)

[midg23]

Here's a side note on VDV, well all know he came through the world famous AJAX youth set up, BUT, he was never scouted, Ajax hold a talent week every year where they take a few people on, and VDV was only one of these players but was not individually scouted like most of their others.

Edgar Davids was the same, never scouted but came through the talent week thing

[clayton]

God, how we could have done with signing him back in August - for next to bloody nothing aswell.
2 reasons why he went to Spurs, because they play open attacking football, and because they're in the champions league. 2 things that you can't associate with LFC.

[prendy]

God, how we could have done with signing him back in August - for next to bloody nothing aswell.
2 reasons why he went to Spurs, because they play open attacking football, and because they're in the champions league. 2 things that you can't associate with LFC.

let spurs have their year, plenty of players have come to us over the years coz we were in the CL, it'll be the same in the next year or two when we get back to where we belong. I actually like Spurs style of play, especially in the CL. I think they will go really far in that competition.


on topic VDV does look like the buy of the season. he has been on fire, creative with an eye for goal, kind of what i hoped (and still hope) joe cole would be for us.

[Ron1892]

Heres a interesting one for you's to ponder.Ive watched Van Der Vaart a couple of times for Spurs this season, and every time i have watched him ive noticed one thing.He is constantly looking for the ball.No matter where he is he wants it..Any time he gets the ball in and around the box he shoots, even though some of his team mates are in better positions.I know its a sign of a player who is running high on confidence if he is constantly looking for the ball, but this game is a team sport i thought?

Id imagine his team mates are getting pissed off at this, even though they are getting the results in..

[Squiggly Line]

Heres a interesting one for you's to ponder.Ive watched Van Der Vaart a couple of times for Spurs this season, and every time i have watched him ive noticed one thing.He is constantly looking for the ball.No matter where he is he wants it..Any time he gets the ball in and around the box he shoots, even though some of his team mates are in better positions.I know its a sign of a player who is running high on confidence if he is constantly looking for the ball, but this game is a team sport i thought?

Id imagine his team mates are getting pissed off at this, even though they are getting the results in..

I highly doubt his team mates are getting pissed off with him. For someone who shoots every time he gets the ball he sure does make a lot of goals for others. Only Peter Crouch has had more assists for Spurs, and even then it's only one more.

Add the six goals he's scored to the five he's made and I'd say his team mates are very happy with him.

[glen]

very good player pity we missed out on him i would of loved to see him in a red shirt

[Maverick]

Always thought he had ability and he is showing it now.Just needed a chance IMO and he seems to have taken it with spurs.Shame we missed out in signing him.

[Derekc]

Hodgson declared himself suitably satisfied with the club's summer transfer activity after bringing in the likes of Joe Cole, Christian Poulsen, Raul Meireles and Paul Konchesky. He did, however, reject suggestions he missed out on signing Real Madrid midfielder Rafael van der Vaart before he completed his last-minute move to Tottenham.

Hodgson said he turned down the opportunity as he was looking for players to cover different positions. "Those stories can get very irritating. First an agent rings you up and asks you if you want to sign Rafael van der Vaart, you say 'no' and the next minute you are one of the ones trying to sign him," added the Reds boss.

"I apologise to Van der Vaart if his agent gave him another story; I think he is a very good player but he is not the profile of the player we were looking for so when it came up I made it clear we had players in Van der Vaart's position. But I was very happy in general, considering there was so much to do and so many unanswered questions when I joined the club

http://img.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=1300756.html

People seem to think VDV turned us down but Roy has always said we didn't want him, i'm curious, do people think we did try to sign him then? Not being funny here, genuinely curious.

[Flemish Red]

Heres a interesting one for you's to ponder.Ive watched Van Der Vaart a couple of times for Spurs this season, and every time i have watched him ive noticed one thing.He is constantly looking for the ball.No matter where he is he wants it..Any time he gets the ball in and around the box he shoots, even though some of his team mates are in better positions.I know its a sign of a player who is running high on confidence if he is constantly looking for the ball, but this game is a team sport i thought?

Id imagine his team mates are getting pissed off at this, even though they are getting the results in..

He's always been like that: at Ajax, Hamburg, Oranje. That's the type of player he is. Goes well in teams where he's the (only) star, but not really in teams full of stars (like Rael and Oranje).

Don't know how it would have worked out with Gerrard in the team...

[Kop On]

Hodgson declared himself suitably satisfied with the club's summer transfer activity after bringing in the likes of Joe Cole, Christian Poulsen, Raul Meireles and Paul Konchesky. He did, however, reject suggestions he missed out on signing Real Madrid midfielder Rafael van der Vaart before he completed his last-minute move to Tottenham.

Hodgson said he turned down the opportunity as he was looking for players to cover different positions. "Those stories can get very irritating. First an agent rings you up and asks you if you want to sign Rafael van der Vaart, you say 'no' and the next minute you are one of the ones trying to sign him," added the Reds boss.

"I apologise to Van der Vaart if his agent gave him another story; I think he is a very good player but he is not the profile of the player we were looking for so when it came up I made it clear we had players in Van der Vaart's position. But I was very happy in general, considering there was so much to do and so many unanswered questions when I joined the club

http://img.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=1300756.html

People seem to think VDV turned us down but Roy has always said we didn't want him, i'm curious, do people think we did try to sign him then? Not being funny here, genuinely curious.

I don't think we ever tried to sign him. I don't beleive Hicks and Gillet would have given the £8M to fund it. Any other time I'm sure we'd have been in for him but I think our summer spending was well over by the time he became available!

[clayton]

So Roy said that VDV is not the profile of type of player he was after....... Hmmmmmmm, what a fooking pleb. Never heard anything so ridiculous in all my life.

[kaiser_del]

Joe Cole has really worked out for us so far!!!!!!!!

[Crown Paints]

Joe Cole has really worked out for us so far!!!!!!!!

I think there's an element of luck involved when a big name joins a new club and Cole/VDV are perfect examples. Both have bags of ability and it could have gone the exact opposite way for both and nobody would have been shocked. Cole never really recovered from the red card in his debut so maybe this extended absence will be the making of him. Either way it's far too early to judge him and I remain optimistic as he's simply too talented and seems to have the right attitude.

[RedPaddy]

It must be all about Man Management because I always thought VDV was no big deal , Looks like Spurs have got a great buy and I must eat humble pie.

...even though our only recent incoming transfer from them was numez, rafa messed up BIG TIME not getting BOTH him & SNIDER FOR ALONSO :rolleyes::mad:

[Crown Paints]

I would have loved Sneijder :(









:(

[Kop On]

...even though our only recent incoming transfer from them was numez, rafa messed up BIG TIME not getting BOTH him & SNIDER FOR ALONSO :rolleyes::mad:

Yeah because Hicks & Gilllet would have let us get VDV & Sneijder and not pocket the £30M fee for Alonso!

[graham]

Yeah because Hicks & Gilllet would have let us get VDV & Sneijder and not pocket the £30M fee for Alonso!

£18M of the £30M transfer fee was reinvested in the squad.
Sneijder could have been gotten for equal or less.
It was the worst piece of business ever done by the club

[MR KING KENNY]

£18M of the £30M transfer fee was reinvested in the squad.
Sneijder could have been gotten for equal or less.
It was the worst piece of business ever done by the club
unreal alright, losing one of our best players( all started over barry:eek: and we had got money to spend, 18million johnson, and 20 mill on aqua, over 38 mill on 2 players, and to think who we could have got for that money.

[MutantNinjaSkrtel]

...even though our only recent incoming transfer from them was numez, rafa messed up BIG TIME not getting BOTH him & SNIDER FOR ALONSO :rolleyes::mad:

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though.Sneijder plays higher up the pitch in Gerrard's position so wasn't seen as a natural successor to Xabi and at the time he was in nowhere near the form he has since gone on to produce.

Besides,VdV and Sneijder would have been on mad money at Madrid.Even if we could afford the fee,there's no way we could have afforded both their wages under the previous regime.

[elvis]

unreal alright, losing one of our best players( all started over barry:eek: and we had got money to spend, 18million johnson, and 20 mill on aqua, over 38 mill on 2 players, and to think who we could have got for that money.

Get off the fence,. Alonso wanted to leave,. And hje aws brutal for 18 months prior to the barry thing, and barry was wanted aswell as alonso not as a replacement,.

Also yeah, think of who we could have got,.
also think of the lotto numbers you could have picked,. Works both ways,. Think of who we could have got instead of Masch, Alonso, Torres and Pepe,.

[MR KING KENNY]

alonso wanted to leave, yeah he did after rafa wanted to sell him to get money for barry, alonso signed a 5 year deal, that sounds like a man who wanted to leave, yeah right, so many clubs were after him but he stayed with us, also where are you going saying he was brutal, he was the diff all the time, he set up and scored so many times for us, passes from 60 yards scoring from inside our half, yeah its easy to say he was crap.
end of rafa made a balls of it, he is the reason alonso is not with us, he signed a 5 year deal and was going nowhere till they tryed to sell him to make way for barry, madrid seen this and said nice one we'll take him sure who would not want the best passer in the world, and we still had money to buy, over 38 mill, on a defender and a bench warmer. im not on any fence.

[elvis]

alonso wanted to leave, yeah he did after rafa wanted to sell him to get money for barry, alonso signed a 5 year deal, that sounds like a man who wanted to leave, yeah right, so many clubs were after him but he stayed with us, also where are you going saying he was brutal, he was the diff all the time, he set up and scored so many times for us, passes from 60 yards scoring from inside our half, yeah its easy to say he was crap.
end of rafa made a balls of it, he is the reason alonso is not with us, he signed a 5 year deal and was going nowhere till they tryed to sell him to make way for barry, madrid seen this and said nice one we'll take him sure who would not want the best passer in the world, rafa was the main cos, and we still had money to buy, over 38 mill, on a defender and a bench warmer. im not on any fence.

Its all really down to being able to pick the right lotto numbers or not,. Does it mean that Hodgeson is a mug, because he knew Aqua was going to brilliant this season but still loaned him out?
Rafa and sources close to Rafa had said, that Barry was meant to go along side Alonso, not as a replacement, Alonso had a poor season for us, and a decent offer came in,. So after being told there is no money for Barry, so we bought you Keane,. And I would also suspect it was Parry, touting Alonso around Europe and not Rafa,. I still havent heard Xabi say a bad word about Rafa either,.

Anyway this is being dragged way way off topic,.

[CrazyHorse]

And hje aws brutal for 18 months prior to the barry thing, and barry was wanted aswell as alonso not as a replacement,. .

You cant ignore the fact he was probably player of the year in the premiership in his last season, and everything that went before his bad spell, which started with a bad injury.

[elvis]

You cant ignore the fact he was probably player of the year in the premiership in his last season, and everything that went before his bad spell, which started with a bad injury.

I didnt need to state that, as it was stated in a comment above, and I wasnt denying it,. But again, the ability to be Captain Hindsight and say that, that was going to happen would have been a miracle,. But yes, as with many players dip in form it is usually attributed to bad injuries,. And yes he was the best player in the league that season too,. I never wanted him to leave, even when he was playing bad,. I have a lot of respect for Xabi, and I still like him and rate him Highly,,.

Again getting off topic,. My apologies,.

[Carroll9]

http://www.irishkop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12172&page=2&highlight=xabi+alonso
Anyone looking for this.;)