http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/articles/rafa-relishing-pre-season-work-100711.html Rafa van der Vaart says he feels âgreatâ as he tackles his first pre-season in England. The Dutch maestro missed our pre-season preparations last season after a late, late switch from Real Madrid on transfer deadline day. In fact, Rafa only had limited pre-season work in Madrid after playing for Holland in last summerâs World Cup. The Dutch went all the way in South Africa and played the final against Spain on July 11, 2010 â weâd already returned to pre-season by then and had our first friendly against Bournemouth! âItâs been quite hard, in fact, I think I prefer to come back a little later!" joked Rafa at Spurs Lodge. âSeriously though, itâs been good. Weâve all had a holiday and now weâre back in training and getting ready for a hard season. I feel great. I did my fitness sessions during the summer, so I feel good. âYou need this work, itâs really important to get in shape. âWe have a tough pre-season, we go to South Africa and you want to stay fit for the whole season, so you need these sessions. âI can remember when I came here, okay, I had pre-season at Madrid and I felt quite fit but here, the pace of the game is more intense than in Spain and thatâs why I had a few little injuries. âAt the end I played a lot of games and I hope to do the same next season.â Rafa says it makes all the difference to now have a year at Spurs under his belt, knowing everyone at the club and feeling settled in the English environment. âIn the first year you come into the club and you donât really know anyone, you are a little nervous and you have to get used to the league, the lifestyle, but now weâre really settled and I feel great here,â he added.
Good lad. He's effectively saying that he's looking forward to playing with spurs for at least another season. Something I wish a certain other midfielder would say. He has the capacity to be a spurs legend if we strengthen other areas to make him as effective as possible.
One gets the impression with Rafa that Spurs, as a club, has seeped into his blood. One gets the same impression with the likes of Ekotto and Dawson, and other players. They seem settled with us. I've never felt the same about Moddy. Sure, he was happy with us until the Russian and an unscrupulous agent conspired to turn his head, but I never got the feeling that Moddy would be one to stay for the long-haul.
I think you're right. Rafa's a passionate guy and you could tell from his celebrations that the supporters made him feel a part of the club early on. I wouldn't agree so much with Ekotto but Dawson is definitely another with a great relationship with the club.
Rafa isn't likley to leave spurs until his 30's as he is the type of foreign player that just wants to settle at a club now, play out his contract and then spend the latter part of his career back abroad so any worry about him going or moving to a bigger club is pointless. Also, any player that jumps ships or wants to move because of Modric lacks any backbone and isn't the type of player we want at this club.
Surely if the club loses a player like Modric, after saying categorically he wouldn't be going, to a rival team from the same league, MOST players would want to move because the club is obviously lacking in ambition, fortitude, cojones, etc???
Well I tend to look at this way, if any player moves on the basis Modric leaves (because he decides, not the club) then any player that goes is saying they don't have belief in their own ability and feel one player is bigger then the team, no matter how good Modric is, he is just a midfield player, he can be replaced and will be replaced. I don't tend to get attached to players like some of you do, some of you seem to feel this club is going to have an awful season if Modric goes, I on the other hand know Redknapp would bring in players to make us a better team as redknapp has ambition and desire to win trophies and be a success, yes he talks too much sometimes but he will make sure we push on next season. IF modric is sold and the club decide not to reinvest and bring in players of the same ability then yes that sends out a message we lack ambition but were lucky to have a manager that has ambition so I'm not worried about next season.
IF Modric is sold, would players of similar ability want to come to the club? At the moment, players of any ability (not including deteriorating keepers) don't seem to want to join while he's still here!!!
I don't see why we can't go out and improve on what we have, why all the doom and gloom, if Modric goes then he can he replaced, he isn't pele! You only need to look at the history of this club to realise we always attract players, thats never been a problem (apart from the days of jason dozzell and kevin scott!). Remember this club doesn't want to sell Modric, he wants to go and if you honestly believe we won't be able to sign top players because Modric goes then your being too negative mate.
I'm a pessimist, I freely admit that and have done on other threads. But I really don't think that we can attract other top players IF we sell our best (a point also made by Harry I believe?) Would you join a firm, no matter how well run, where the average wage was capped at a level well below its competitors? where the stand out staff members, who have in no small way contributed to its success are on the verge of leaving because they can't see the club doing anything other than standing still? where even other domestic competitors have invested massively in new staff, even without the benefits of a current European distribution network?
It doesn't take Einstein to realise that selling a player who wants CL football will send the unmistakeable signal to other players that CL football cannot be obtained at Tottenham
Champions league football can be obtained at spurs (as we proved) and Modric leaving is his own personal decision so you must be rather naive to believe top players will base their entire view of spurs and what we're capable of on the basis Modric wants to leave. Modric wants to win titles and challenge for the champions league, no player was ever going to sign for us for them reasons. When we sign a player like Modric, it is because they believe they are signing for a club that wants to progress and allows them a chance to shine and there are many players out there who we can sign with the same beliefs and who can help us get back into the champions league so all this doom and gloom is simply too negative and pretty pathetic.
And it doesn't take Eisenstein to realise that we need our own Vakulinchuk (Modric) to maintain our revolution, without him we will get massacred in the league ala the Odessa Steps
I am 100% confident that If Modric leaves, next season we will have a better team then previous and Redknapp will have signed players to improve us and help us push on and all this doom and gloom over Modric will be a thing of the past.
So, you're currently happy and full of joy at the prospect of the upcoming season? If it started today, we would get annihilated by at least 60% of the teams in the league.
The league doesn't start today so pointless to debate that. Your basically saying one player is bigger then this club and without Modric we're nothing and you have no faith in our manager or our current squad. Once the season starts we will have a squad good enough to make a serious challenge for 4th again and this is all we can hope for next season.
Hell no, one player isn't bigger than the team BUT This one player has drawn the focus away from us improving, we have not signed any player of note thus far (compare that to the teams around us!) No player seems to want to join us, because we are ****ing our star player around, we are ****ing about with the Olympiss stadium, and we are ****ing about our transfer policy by trying to sell in a buyers market. By the start of the season, with Modric or without, we will not be anywhere near in a position to challenge for fourth, and we won't get past the quarters in any cup competition without some serious transfer movement sooner rather than later. At present, we shouldn't be looking at either of the Manc sides, Chelski or L'Arse but at Liverpool because they will be the team that could keep us out of Europe next season and we are LAGGING so far behind them we couldn't catch hold of Carroll's piss poor mullet
