Rafael van der Vaart has had a few things to say about his time at the club in an interview with FourFourTwo magazine.
The former Dutch international’s performances were a joy to behold at White Hart Lane during his two years in England, and he says he regretted leaving when he did:
“I shouldn’t have left Tottenham, though it’s always easy to say that with hindsight.”
Reaction to the interview on Twitter from fans showed there is still a lot of affection for Rafa:
This fella is up there for me with King as my favourite @SpursOfficial player
— Delboy Smithy (@djyido77) May 3, 2018
I love him/miss him
— Harry C (@HazSpur92) May 3, 2018
God I love this man
— Alexis (@Heressss_Alex) May 3, 2018
What a player he was. Sad that injuries limited him but even so he was brilliant.
— Anthony Heard (@AnthonyH7) May 4, 2018
Miss him so much
— Kevin Thorp (@kjthorp) May 3, 2018
I’d still have him back at spurs be ideal for a rotation player never had pace but a very clever player
— Alex Huggins (@1996alexhuggins) May 3, 2018
Top, top, top player
— Patrick Behan (@PatrickBehan74) May 3, 2018
Wish he stayed such a fans favourite player @rafvdvaart
— Az/Aaron (@SLiiPZHD) May 3, 2018
Left too early ????
— thomas spice (@spice2001) May 3, 2018
Named my cat after this guy! Rafa Van Der Caat
— Matt James (@MattJames77) May 3, 2018
Verdict:
In the interview, Rafa went on to say the main reason why he felt it was the right decision to leave was because AVB bought Gylfi Sigurdsson.
As soon as he was named on the bench for the first game of the season, he decided the time was right to return to Hamburg. If he had been a bit more patient, perhaps he could have remained for a few more years.
He had a couple more seasons at the top of his game in Germany, but injuries and age caught up with him. We certainly saw his best years whilst he was at the club.