Remember this guy...?

[Ron Burgundy]

We should have kept him in my opinion. I think he wanted to go, so there's not a huge amount we could do about it, and we all know about his fitness issues, but.....

....60 minute player or not, there is currently a 10 shaped hole in our attack, and having him as an option would have been incredibly helpful. I like Sigi as a prospect, but he's patently not ready to fill Rafa's boots yet, and while he has the goal scoring prowess, I'm not convinced Dempsey has anything like Rafa's subtlety or creativity.

We look an attacking player or two short of the best Spurs team I've ever seen.

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Amen.

Baaaaaa...

 

[DuDe]

I miss Silvie more.

 

[Dazza86]

We should have put our foot down and kept him for one more season. Not only because of his playing ability but because he can pass his knowledge onto Siggy who would have undoubtedly learnt tons from him.

I'm just glad we've still got King to some degree, showing Caulker how to play. That type of knowledge is vital for the future of our club and needs to be passed down as a legacy.

All the best VdV.

 

[mark87]

VDV was great for us, one hell of a player and i am gutted that we sold him, but it's time to move on guys, we have new players and a new manager, yes VDV was a top lad and i wish him all the best but it's time to look to the future people.

 

[parklane1]

Baaaaaa...

Yawn---

 

[King of Otters]

I miss him dearly.

I'm not ashamed to say I frequently indulge in a cry wank over this pic

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Yawn---

Are you boring yourself now?

 

[yido_number1]

Great character and a classic spurs player. Will always be missed in my eyes, but pleased with he way we are trying to progress...

 

[Ionman34]

I would love to still have Rafa. Pure quality.

I actually think he would of thrived in our new system.

Family becomes before work though so good look to the guy.

This.

Loved the guy and agree he would have thrived under AVB.

However I think his departure showed the club displaying a bit of class in allowing the player's personal needs to be put at the forefront. It is no mystery to me that so many ex players have such a love for the club long after they have moved on.

I hope that, in the very near future, he is invited back as a guest and paraded at half time to the crowd so that they can show him just how much he was/is loved by the fans.

I don't think we'll ever supplant Hamburg as top of his affections, but I do like to think he'll regard his time with us as one of the big highlights of his career.

Up there with Klinsmann, for me, on the affection scale.

 

[not_tenth-again]

I believe we should of held on to him for at least one more year. Losing both Rafa and Luka in the same window was hard to take. I would certainly think he could have helped Sig develop a lot in a season, provide some leadership and of course Goals! etc.

Personally I would have held on to him til January. By then the new faces would have settled in and the pitches softened up, which sort of goes against him. Having said that, the leadership and skill is oozing from the Belgian boys and we seem ok.....

 

[ohwhenthespurs]

Clearly, it's a complex issue, but reducing it down to the black and white:

Never believed the line about him wanting to go because of his family.
I think he'd have happily stayed.
I think Levy cashed in on him at the last point when he would be at peak value.
I'd rather have him for the next two seasons than Sigurdsson.
I'd rather have him for the next two seasons than Dempsey.
We'll miss his big-game experience.
We'll miss his goals.
I believe we should have kept him.

 

[Wheeler Dealer]

Imagine what a player he could have been with some pace.. He'd have been one of europes finest and probably never have set foot at WHL.

 

[joey.leone]

I thought I had moved on until I looked at this thread. Rafa.....

 

[walton]

I often thought Harry pulled him for no real reason. Sure there were times he was blowing hard, as were Parker, Ade, Lennon & Modric. He became a scape goat, "unfit" etc... But he's not a Parker "run about a bit" type player.

We miss his deft touch, vision, & goals.

Porbably just wanted an easy lay; disgusting behaviour...no wonder he left.

 

[Jamturk]

Good player, loved his enhtusiasim,
Just think it suited all parties.
time to look forward, fresh piece of paper.

 

[parklane1]

Imagine what a player he could have been with some pace.. He'd have been one of europes finest and probably never have set foot at WHL.

Its a good point, his lack of pace and his injurys were ( imo) the only reason he was not world class.

 

[tototoner]

Isn't he a slow unfit luxury player who can only play 60 mins

I still miss him

 

[BringBack_leGin]

I miss him, I reckon he's better than both Gylfi and Clint, but he's gone and, superb though he was for the most part, I don't miss him the way I've missed others. Maybe it's because other players I've missed, it's been because the team after they left has been rubbish whereas now we have a bloody good team. Ginola, Berbatov, Sheringham, they all left much bigger holes than he has left. One of my favourite players in the time I've been watching Spurs, and I held him in higher esteem than either Bale or Modric over the past two seasons (though I think Bale will turn out the best of the lot), but I don't feel like we're unable to move forward without him.

 

[fieryjack]

Thorsten Fink, what a great name.
Sorry, what was the article about again?