Tottenham Hotspur allowed one of their greatest creative sparks to leave on transfer deadline day, two months on, here’s a look at how his absence has affected the team.
Transfer deadline day was a pretty manic one at Spurs, with Daniel Levy acting like a father on Christmas Eve who had left all of his shopping until the very last minute.
Dutchman Rafael van der Vaart’s departure was the first order of business on the day, with the attacker allowed to pack his bags and head to the exit to his former club Hamburg.
But should Andre Villas-Boas have made more effort to keep him?
First of all there are reasons why the move suited the player and manager. He and his wife were said to favour a move back to Germany, and Villas-Boas was said to have doubts over whether the Dutchman would suit his system.
And Van der Vaart can be a difficult player to accommodate, seen as a luxury, and often shunted out onto the right-wing by Harry Redknapp last season to little effect. After seeing Modric depart and Spurs miss out on Champions League football narrowly, the player was said to be keen on a new challenge and Spurs did not dig their heels in.
So far its hard not to argue his absence has been felt, especially in home matches. Van der Vaart was a key creative component of the team, and with Spurs winning just one in their last five at home its hard not to see a link between the two.
The attacking midfield position has been a problem one for Spurs, with neither Clint Dempsey or Gylfi Sigurdsson so far convincing supporters they can be the answer. Yet when Van der Vaart set such high standards it was always going to be hard for them to instantly replace him. Iago Falque has been touted as a possibility and he certainly deserves chances.
Meanwhile over in Germany the Dutchman is going strong. He has one goal and four assists to his name already this season with Hamburg, and many more are no doubt on the way.
Look no further than this for his effect on Tottenham; 2011/12: 14 goals, 8 assists, 2010/11: 13 goals, 9 assists – providing 44 goals in total, or 22 a season.
Now Levy may consider £10 million good business for a 29-year-old, but that is just the problem, Spurs need their chairman to focus on what is best for the team.
One player who certainly is missing him is Emmanuel Adebayor. The Togolese striker was heavily influential last season playing with Van der Vaart supporting him, but so far this season when he has had opportunities he has struggled to make any sort of impression at all.
Both player and club have moved on, but you just wonder whether Spurs whether it be the manager or chairman should have made more of an effort to keep the Dutchman for one more year at least rather than cashing in.
Are Spurs missing Van der Vaart? What do you think?
image: © wonker
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