Whither thou goest, van der Vaart

By: Chris | December 14th, 2007

How cool is it to get scooped by the Main Page and the guy that writes a blog about your club’s association on the same day? I had it coming since I have been avoiding the subject for a long time.

If I could trade places with one person in the world right now, I would trade with Raphael van der Vaart. Why not? He’s one of the best footballers in Europe, makes over 2M Euro a year, and is married to Sylvie (hubba hubba). Is this the charmed life or what? And now he’s transferring away from Hamburg. When this story first broke during the transfer window last August, he was on his way to Spain to ply his trade with Valencia. Who can blame him? Warm weather, beautiful beaches, family, warm weather. Did I mention the weather in Spain? Oh, and money. Piles of it. Now as we approach the January transfer window, the number of suitors has increased geometrically. And it looks increasingly like he’s heading to Italy, likely Inter or Juve. Here is Chris’ post on the subject from earlier this week. Commenting on a post I made earlier, Offside Bundesliga expert Jan made a very good point: Ajax are going to make out like bandits when he transfers. This saga concludes today with a good news/bad news point: The good news is that vdV has steadfastly maintained that he’s not going anywhere until the summer, he’s not going to another Bundesliga club (I’m looking at you Bayern!) and he’s recently discussed a contract extension with HSV; The bad news is that this is only going to become a bigger story (read: DISTRACTION) as the season progresses.

And now for something completely different. This Saturday’s contest with Karlsruher SC marks the last league match before the winter break. Karlsruhe sit sixth in the table on 27 points, and as of now, look to stay promoted after this season. This campaign is Karlsruhe’s first season in the Bundesliga since 1997/1998. On the whole, Karlsruhe has historically had success versus HSV at home. According to Goal.com, here are the results of their last 6 matches at the Wildparkstadion:

Head-to-head record in Karlsruhe

Karlsruhe 0 Hamburg 1 21/03/98

Karlsruhe3 Hamburg 1 26/04/97

Karlsruhe 3 Hamburg 1 22/03/96

Karlsruhe 2 Hamburg 0 11/03/95

Karlsruhe 2 Hamburg 0 14/08/93

HSV sit 3rd in the table on 31 points after blowing a tremendous opportunity to make up ground on Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich last matchday. Vincent Kompany took offense with Ivica Olic’s elbow Thursday during training. Here’s a photo of the incident in question from the the team website:

Rumor has it Kompany was sent home after exchanging shoves and words. The club’s website glosses everything over; and independent report says Kompany may not be available Saturday.

SWAG prediction: 1-1 draw chased by lots of Holsten and Astra!

Team notes:

-US Under-20 striker Preston Wilson has signed a professional contract with HSV following promotion from the second team. Great to see American players earning a shot with bigger European side!

-Goalkeeper Frank Rost underwent surgery on his nose Monday evening and has missed training. Huub says he’s fine and will play Saturday.