New Tottenham Hotspur signing Rafael van der Vaart admits that he is becoming frustrated at his recent treatment by Dutch boss Bert van Marwijk.
The midfielder was left on the bench for Friday’s win against San Marino and was substituted after 64 minutes of last night’s 2-1 victory against Finland.
Van der Vaart played out of position as a left winger and covered his mouth as he left the pitch.
Asked if he was worried about lip-readers, he laughed: ‘Secretly, yes. I was swearing a bit, but not specifically for (Van Marwijk) to hear.’
He continued on www.onsoranje.nl: ‘If you play well you don’t think you’ll be taken off. I’m getting a little despondent.
‘The substitutions are predictable. It’s my 84th match. I think sometimes I deserve to stay on.
‘If I play badly, you can take me off after an hour. That’s my own fault. But in this case I trained hard, kept my mouth shut, did my best, and I was still taken off.
MORE SPURS STORIES
‘I gave everything. Also I was playing in a position which is not comfortable for me, I’m not a left winger.
‘But I did well. I was involved in two goals, some good moves, and almost scored.
‘I always try to be positive but I can’t remember the last time I played 90 minutes. It makes me somewhat despondent.
‘Maybe other people would not be angry, but that’s how I feel at the moment.’
Asked if he was too nice, he said: ‘Maybe. But in my time at Ajax I learned that arguing is useless.
‘I just always want to play. If you play well you think you deserve to stay on and not be the first one taken off every time.’
Nevertheless, Van der Vaart believes Van Marwijk rates him highly.
‘I know he has great confidence in me, he’s said so often enough. But with the regularity of the substitutions, obviously as a player I’m going to become unhappy.’
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
