? Europa League is important, says Dutchman
? Van der Vaart wants to stay at White Hart Lane
Rafael van der Vaart believes another European campaign will be invaluable to Tottenham Hotspur's development even if it comes in the derided Europa League.
The Dutch international's manager, Harry Redknapp, has not been enthused at the prospect of swapping Spurs' Champions League adventure for Europe's second?tier event next season, despite his revised aim to finish in fifth place. That target is within Redknapp's reach after Spurs overtook Liverpool with the 2-0 win at Anfield on Sunday and Van der Vaart, who opened the scoring on Merseyside, insists Tottenham would benefit from a Europa League campaign this autumn.
"We always want to play in Europe. I think it is good to have the experience from the Europa League and it would also be a nice title to win. So why not?" he said. "I like every year to be playing every two days or three days. It's really important to have Europe. You saw this year that having a Champions League season has helped us. It is so important for the players and that is why we want to make sure we win next week against Birmingham also."
Van der Vaart, signed by Redknapp from Real Madrid for �8m last year, also insisted the failure to qualify for the Champions League would not tempt him away from White Hart Lane this summer. "Of course I want to be playing in the Champions League. Every player is the same. But I have only been here just one year. I have really enjoyed my first year and we will see what next season will bring."
Tottenham's win on Sunday was only their second in 14 matches in all competitions and Van der Vaart must address their problems against the weaker teams in the Premier League to return to the top four next year.
"With the greatest respect, we dropped too many points against the smaller teams like Wigan and Blackpool. It has been a pity and we have got to do better next year. In the big games we always play good. We don't have a problem playing against the big teams and it was never a worry to play Liverpool because I think we have better players."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/17/rafael-van-der-vaart-tottenham-hotspur-europa-league
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