Fellow Bundesliga players voted the Hamburg captain as the biggest disappointment of the season in a poll organised by German magazine Kicker.

  • By Andy Booth
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vdv hambuThe midfielder featured in 24 league matches this season contributing 4 goals, his worst ever return and needless to say other aspects of his game have dwindled too.

His Hamburg side avoided relegation to the second tier by the narrowest of margins again this term. A 91st minute equaliser in the play-off with Karlsruher took the tie to extra-time before Nicolai Müller rescued the Bundesliga outfits blushes with a late winner.

Although the German giants have never been relegated, they have now relied on the play-off in the past two seasons, with their decline in form coinciding with the Dutchman’s return to the club.

Van der Vaart has recently agreed terms with newly promoted Seville outfit Real Betis so that he can live and play closer to his grandparents’ home near Cadiz.

At 32 it is clear his better days are behind him and the ‘award’ is the cherry on the cake of a terrible spell at the club.




Andy Booth (27 Posts)