'Despondent' Rafael van der Vaart voices frustration

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The 27-year-old was left on the bench for Friday's match against San Marino, having endured an unhappy World Cup in which he struggled to compete for his place with Wesley Sneijder, leading to apparent tension between the pair.

And he played in the unfamiliar position of left wing last night and was taken off after 64 minutes of the 2-1 victory.

The new Tottenham signing covered his mouth as he departed the pitch clearly an unhappy man.

Asked if he was worried about lip-readers, he laughed: "Secretly, yes. I was swearing a bit, but not specifically for (Van Marwijk) to hear."

He continued on www.onsoranje.nl: "If you play well you don't think you'll be taken off. I'm getting a little despondent.

"The substitutions are predictable. It's my 84th match. I think sometimes I deserve to stay on.

"If I play badly, you can take me off after an hour. That's my own fault. But in this case I trained hard, kept my mouth shut, did my best, and I was still taken off.

"I gave everything. Also I was playing in a position which is not comfortable for me, I'm not a left winger.

"But I did well. I was involved in two goals, some good moves, and almost scored.

"I always try to be positive but I can't remember the last time I played 90 minutes. It makes me somewhat despondent.

"Maybe other people would not be angry, but that's how I feel at the moment."

Asked if he was too nice, he said: "Maybe. But in my time at Ajax I learned that arguing is useless.
"I just always want to play. If you play well you think you deserve to stay on and not be the first one taken off every time."

Nevertheless, Van der Vaart believes Van Marwijk rates him highly.

"I know he has great confidence in me, he's said so often enough. But with the regularity of the substitutions, obviously as a player I'm going to become unhappy."