Quotes from Rafael van der Vaart

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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!

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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