Rafael van der Vaart has been won over by Hans Vanaken, who has been a mainstay for Club Brugge for years. ''He is proving that I had him completely wrong'', the Ziggo Sport analyst said around Tuesday's Champions League tie with Aston Villa.
A few years ago, around an international between the Netherlands and Belgium, Van der Vaart tore into Vanaken. ''I keep hearing Vanaken, Vanaken, Vanaken everywhere... Well, he really can't play at all. A complete donkey.''
Back then, the 34-year-old did little for Van der Vaart. ''You can see that he looks a bit wooden. At first, that put me off him a little'', the former midfielder admits in his analysis of the Belgian veteran.
Now Van der Vaart has completely changed his mind about the Club Brugge captain. ''He is now proving that I had him completely wrong'', said the North Hollander, frank enough to revise his view of Vanaken.
''Every match he plays with so much control and footballing intelligence. And he also has good vision. I have become a huge fan of him'', the delighted Van der Vaart added.
Since joining Club Brugge in 2015, Vanaken has made 571 appearances. The attacking midfielder has scored 152 goals for the Belgian giants and supplied 115 assists.
As well as captaining Club Brugge, he has won 40 caps for Belgium. Vanaken scored at the last World Cup in the last-16 match against the United States, a 4-1 win. Belgium's run ended in the quarter-finals, where eventual world champions Spain proved too strong.