Ex-Spurs star lashes out after Champions League exit: 'Sorry, but who buys his shirt?'

Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk

• 9 Mar 2023 07:44 GMT
• 3 min read

Rafael van der Vaart has lamented the elimination of his former employer Tottenham Hotspur in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The London club were held to a scoreless draw against AC Milan on Wednesday evening, and with the Italian team having won the opening leg 1-0, they thus qualified for the quarter-finals of the tournament for the first time since 2012.

"I've said it before and I'm going to say it again: I think Tottenham are such a mediocre team," Van der Vaart told Ziggo Sport .

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“They invest a lot of money, make no mistake. But then they get these kinds of players, who have nothing extra. They are all runners and runners. No one with any quality. If Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane don't do it, there is nothing left. It is a very mediocre team.”

Sheffield United knocked out Spurs in the fifth round of the FA Cup last month, while Nottingham Forest proved too strong in the third round of the EFL Cup. In the Premier League, Antonio Conte’s side are grimly clinging on to fourth place but are being put under pressure by Newcastle and a resurgent Liverpool.

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Van der Vaart on Kane's Tottenham future

Van der Vaart was asked if Kane should leave because the prolific attacker has never won a trophy in his career.

“I think he should say: 'We need more creativity behind me, then I'd be happy to stay.'

“Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is a great player, but someone like Oliver Skipp… Sorry, but who buys his shirt? And that's in midfield, I think that's incredible.

“And then you can't beat this Milan!? Milan are also a mediocre team, but you are eliminated by them and that does not surprise me.”

According to Van der Vaart, there was little to say about the meeting between Spurs and the Italian giants.

“That's what makes it so disappointing. What to say about Spurs? I don’t know,” he said.

“The fact that Tottenham reached the Champions League final in 2019 has blinded people. They made it to the final in a way that made you think, how is it possible? If you take Jose Mourinho and Conte as managers, you do choose a certain style. That's not the style I know from Tottenham.”

Spurs will seek to bounce back from their latest disappointment with a home match against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.