Harry Redkanpp’s last gasp deadline day capture of Rafael van der Vaart was quickly lauded as the signing of the season. The Dutchman arrived at White Hart Lane with proven pedigree and took little time to start demonstrating his worth on the Premier League stage.
Fantasy Managers who stood by, pondering Van der Vaart’s likely impact and just how Redknapp would integrate his talents, were quickly convinced. Three goals in his opening four appearances announced Van der Vaart’s arrival and, with six Fantasy Premier League Bonus Points arriving over that early spell, it was clear that we had a key Fantasy prospect on our hands.
The Statistics
A modest 7.5 valuation in the FPL game indicated early potential. When Van der Vaart delivered, the scramble to acquire him began in earnest. The brace against Villa in the gameweek 7 home win sparked almost 200,000 “transfers in” and, by gameweek 15, a full 1.0 had been added to his value.
Van der Vaart was far from a “fire and forget” signing however. Concerns over his fitness and stamina, compounded by several periods of absence through injury, meant that the Dutchman’s Fantasy owners remained on their toes.
Despite his importance to Redknapp’s side, Van der Vaart’s longer spell of consecutive games was nine from gameweek 30 onwards. He was still subbed in four of those matches and, ironically, this was also Van der Vaart’s least profitable run of matches.
However, there’s little doubt that Van der Vaart produced the goods. His 13 goals and nine assists were rich returns for a first season in England, backed by a generous 19 Bonus Points from the Press Association representatives who quickly established him as a favourite.
Dominance at set-pieces and spot-kick taking duties boosted his potential hugely and our Members OPTA stats continually indicated that, in terms of goal threat, Van der vaart had few peers in the midfield bracket.
The Prospects
There were clear issues this season with Van der Vaart’s role in Redknapp’s starting XI. He flourished early on in tandem with Peter Crouch, playing just behind the lanky striker. However, with Jermain Defoe back in the picture and Roman Pavlyuchenko showing form that saw the Spurs boss hand him regular starts, Van der Vaart was pushed out to the right-flank. That’s a role that is far from assured given Aaron Lennon’s spritely form; Fantasy managers will approach Van der Vaart with a degree of caution next season as a result.
Van der Vaart will prove a conundrum. A price rise is inevitable given his impact this term and we can expect the FPL to deliver a value of around 9.5, possibly even 10.0. That would push him into the same bracket as the likes of Frank Lampard, Florent Malouda, Nani and Cesc Fabregas – suddenly casting major doubt over Van der Vaart’s place in our squads.
