Tottenham fans must be
overjoyed with what they’ve seen of Rafael Van der Vaart so far in
his displays at West Brom and Werder Bremen. The £8m signing has
shown glimpses of his obvious talent despite an obvious lack of
fitness and looks a real bargain. After all, despite a difficult
spell both for Real Madrid and for his country, the Dutchman has
maintained an excellent reputation as both a creative and goal
scoring midfielder.
As with all foreign imports, it may take the former Hamburg and
Ajax star some time before he can stamp his class on the Premier
League. However, I believe Harry Redknapp may have finally signed a
world-class midfielder who can provide performances and goals for
Spurs in the same manner as Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Cesc
Fabregas have been doing for their respective clubs.
There’s no doubt that Tottenham have come on leaps and bounds
under Redknapp but the home defeat to Wigan illustrated that the
team still lacks the guile to open teams up that sit deep and hold
their shape at White Hart Lane. Last season Stoke, Wolves and
Bolton all kept clean-sheets from their visits while two of those
sides actually picked up wins. During the recent transfer window it
seemed likely that the big-name arrival expected at the Lane would
be a striker. The Lilywhites were linked to the likes of Luis
Fabiano, Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Mauro Zarate amongst others but
the last-minute capture of midfield man Van der Vaart may prove to
be the ‘special’ signing Harry Redknapp craved.
Spurs
have an array of midfield talent at the club but in terms of goal
scoring midfielders, the cupboard is pretty bare. Tom Huddlestone
netted twice in the league last season, Luka Modric and Aaron
Lennon three apiece while Wilson Palacios scored once. Niko
Kranjcar was the exception with six strikes in just 24 league
appearances (19 starts) but he is struggling to make his mark on
the team this season. Van der Vaart may have only scored six
himself last season and five before that, but as a bit-part player
in Madrid, he was often played out of position or had to influence
games from the bench. A glance at his record in both Holland and
Germany suggests Spurs have signed a player who can both unlock
defences and become a regular scorer himself.
The statistics speak for themselves. Van der Vaart scored 52
goals in 117 league appearances for Ajax (108 starts) and 29 goals
in 74 league appearances for Hamburg (72 starts). Even for Real
Madrid, the Dutchman scored 11 goals in 58 league appearances
despite only 31 starts. One thing’s for certain, his long-range
shooting ability will be a welcome addition to Spurs. Particularly
when teams such as Wigan, Wolves and Stoke sit deep at White Hart
Lane limiting the space for the home wingers to get in behind them.
While Modric may be excellent on the ball, Tottenham fans will tell
you his record from outside the box is not what it should be.
Alternatively, the Dutchman will offer a more potent threat
centrally.
Some of the praise Van der Vaart has received from those that
have worked with him suggests Tottenham have signed a real star.
Former Spurs manager Martin Jol once described the £8m signing as
“one of the best five play-makers in Europe”. While Dutch team-mate
Arjen Robben argues that he could be the ‘best’ midfielder in the
Premier League. He told the Daily Star Sunday, “With Rafa on board,
Spurs really do have one of the very best midfield players in the
Premier League, maybe even the best.
“In terms of his
vision, his range of passing, his ability to split a defence and
his eye for goal he is as good as Cesc Fabregas, Steven Gerrard and
of course Frank Lampard.”
“He is that bridge for Spurs that makes them go from a very good
Premier League club to a team capable of taking on and beating any
side in Europe on their day.”
Van der Vaart’s arrival may give Harry a few selection headaches
but it does enable him to tinker with the current 4-4-2 formation.
With Jermain Defoe out for six weeks through injury, it wasn’t
surprising to see Redknapp resort to the formation that did so well
away at Stoke. That means a lone striker in Peter Crouch or Roman
Pavlyuchenko with Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon on the flanks. This
would also be a way of incorporating the Dutchman in his preferred
role in the ‘hole’ with Huddlestone and either Palacios, Jermaine
Jenas, Sandro or Modric behind him.
This formation would give Spurs plenty of flexibility and seems
likely with Redknapp obviously not overly keen on Robbie Keane or
Roman Pavlyuchenko as a starter. Tottenham may have lacked a
regular midfield goal scorer in recent seasons in comparison to
their London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea but now they may finally
have their man.
Frank Lampard has reached double figures in league goals for the
past six seasons while Cesc Fabregas notched 15 goals in just 27
league appearances in 2009/10. Now, Spurs have a player in their
ranks that can provide a similar return.
The £8m signing of Van der Vaart not only offers creativity,
experience and hunger to Spurs but also a midfield goal threat. If
he lives up to the quotes from international team-mate Arjen
Robben, the addition of the Dutchman is likely to get Tottenham
flying high in the Premier League once again.