Top 35 Quotes & Sayings by Rafael van der Vaart

When you put something on Instagram, the English people are always so positive. As a player, you need that.

The way I played, Tottenham was the best phase of my career. It's always a warm feeling when I think back.

When I lose the fun in football, it's better to quit.

I love to play big games, it makes you a bigger player.

At home, I make the decisions.

I think the Premier League is the best league in the world.

Football is important but it's not the most important thing.

Andre Villas-Boas wasn't the ideal coach for me.

I like to play football, and of course I like to play for Tottenham, but I try to enjoy every game because that's the most important thing, to have fun on the pitch, and then you can play good.

I never had anything against Arsenal, but when I joined Spurs I tried to learn about the club's traditions and I soon found out about the magnitude of the match.

Leaving Tottenham was not by best choice but, apart from that, there haven't been too many regrets in my career.

I'm not a player any more, I'm a fan, and I want to see somebody who wants to win and wants to fight.

I like to relax and watch TV and play with my little boy. I like to play some tennis as well.

I've always said the one change that would've been nice is if I'd been a bit faster - like fast enough to be able to run past people instead of just being overtaken all the time!

Every time I walked into White Hart Lane, I got goosebumps. I felt so privileged to play there, to make the people happy.

When I was younger, I always knew I was a pretty good player, but it was impossible to foresee how far I'd go. I had a left foot and vision like no one else, but I wasn't the quickest and my right foot wasn't so great, so there were things I needed to work on.

Andre Villas-Boas wasn't the ideal coach for me. He bought Gylfi Sigurdsson and then told me he would be his new No.10.

I think it's a good match, Dutch players playing in England.

I didn't want to be the next version of any player - I wanted to establish my own name.

But Tottenham is pure football and pure people... nice, warm people. That's why I like Tottenham. And everybody who comes to the stadium can smell the history.

When I was young, the best moment came when I was 10 and I got invited to the academy. I remember getting all this Ajax training gear and suddenly I was able to call myself an Ajax player.

Twenty-seven is a great age to play. There is so much ahead of you.

It's really important that when you come to a club, you know the history. My dream was always Real Madrid or Barcelona, but for the fans of Tottenham, the club is the biggest in the world. So that's how I treated it.

When your relationship is good, you can tell somebody the truth.

My idol was always Romario. He was playing in Holland at the time and I loved him. His skills, technique, I loved him he was my hero. I liked his whole game. One moment it would be like he was sleeping and then another moment he would change the game.

Best football player I played against? I think Messi. He killed us.

I think you have to play your own game and sometimes people don't realise that the play-maker runs the most kilometres on the pitch!

I can imagine playing in America.

If you start thinking about stats it can get too complicated and you just have to go out there and play your game.

I always try to enjoy the game. It is easy to say but it's true. Every game is different, sometimes you feel better inside you but you have to enjoy your game.

The play-maker is the most difficult position because you have to always know where everyone is on the pitch.

You have to believe in yourself. Belief is one of the biggest things in football. If you believe you can win the Premier League then of course it can happen.

I think it's important to know what you're going to do with the ball before it comes to you. So you're always thinking before hand and when the ball comes to you to can make the pass straight away.

One of my biggest role models was David Beckham because of how he performed on and off the pitch.

Holland I think is the best school to learn football. I think its a great league for that because it's not the strongest league in Europe.