Van der Vaart and his terrible set pieces
Rafael Van Der Vaart is hungry. He wants the ball all the time. This is undoubtedly an excellent quality in a player. Because of Van der Vaart’s appetite and his status within the Tottenham Hotspur side, he has quickly and firmly established himself as the first choice set-piece taker but after a series of dreadful decisions against Manchester United on Monday night, this duty should definitely be put under review.
When playing against a side of United’s quality, every set-piece should be treated with great importance, there are few opportunities against the Champions and all should be taken seriously. Corners and free kicks must be viewed as a chance to test the defence and in particular, on Monday, to test the new goalkeeper. Van Der Vaart failed to do this completely. One of his corners didn’t even make it onto the pitch and he struck a horribly wasteful shot from 40 yards when both centre backs had gone forward. Harry Redknapp was furious and rightly so.
In the big games Van Der Vaart does get particularly carried away, the occasion seems to inflate his already considerable sense of self-importance and, whilst this benefited Spurs last season, particularly in the Champions League and against Arsenal at White Hart Lane, it was evident on Monday that his enthusiasm doesn’t always benefit the team. Aside from screaming at Lennon and then throwing a strop, he was hot-headed and rushing on Monday when what was needed was a cool head. By all means put van der Vaart on the free kicks from the edge of the box, he cannot really do much worse than Gareth Bale’s return of 1, but when Spurs are trying to slow down play and take the pressure of their back four, the last thing they need is a selfishly taken, rushed set-piece.
Perhaps taking Van der Vaart off set pieces entirely is too strong a reaction to this one particularly poor display as he is undoubtedly a talented enough player to whip in a great cross, but getting him to calm down and reminding him of the priority to put the ball into a dangerous area might be a start. There are several other players capable of delivering in the Tottenham side, particularly Tom Huddlestone and Gareth Bale. It wouldn’t hurt to let them have a go and at least make Van der Vaart appreciate his responsibilities a bit more on the process.
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