Just hearing the names of these two people can make people gasp uncontrollably.

The 28-year-old Van der Vaart was bought by Tottenham from Real Madrid for 8 million in 2009.

Real Madrid sold Van der Vaart, Europe's first golden boy, known as the Dutch star and the little Cruyff, for only 8 million, but a few years later spent 100 million euros to buy Bale. If this operation is not to suppress Ronaldo, what else could it be?

Van der Vaart was plagued by injuries at the time, and Real Madrid already had Kaka and Ronaldo, so Van der Vaart had been marginalized. Therefore, it was very normal for Van der Vaart to be cleared out by Real Madrid.

Van der Vaart reached his peak as soon as he debuted.

Van der Vaart started learning to play football in a professional football school at the age of 4. He joined the Ajax youth team in 1993. In 2000, when he was only 16 years old, Van der Vaart was promoted to the first team. At the age of 17, he played for Ajax. Because of his amazing performance and superb footwork, he was hailed as the Little Beckham and Little Cruyff.

In 2003, Van der Vaart became the first European Golden Boy Award winner.

When Van der Vaart played for Ajax, it was the peak period of his life. His playing style was completely in line with Ajax's tactics. His left-footed free kicks and scorpion shots are absolutely world-class classics.

Of course, when talking about Van der Vaart during his time at Ajax, we have to mention another star who was even more arrogant than Van der Vaart - Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Ibrahimovic is very crazy, which makes the Dutch gang unhappy.

Once, Van der Vaart said to Ibrahimovic, "You stepped on my foot." Ibrahimovic said, "I didn't fucking step on your foot."

Van der Vaart said, "Just say it again, just try it," and Ibrahimovic said, "Just try it."

Van der Vaart said, I'm going to break your legs!

Then, Van der Vaart was caught.

Van der Vaart said that this team can either have him or me.

So, after 2004, Van der Vaart moved to Hamburg.

Most of Ajax's players have the attribute of positional diversity, and Van der Vaart is no exception.

Van der Vaart started out as a midfielder, then was transformed into a striker, then returned to midfield in Real Madrid, and after arriving at Tottenham, Ray reactivated Van der Vaart's attributes as a free man in the frontcourt. Van der Vaart can switch between forward, winger, attacking midfielder, central midfielder, and shadow striker at will.

Van der Vaart can even play as a winger or a full-back.

Under Ray's guidance, Van der Vaart also ushered in the second spring of his career.

Van der Vaart has superb skills, his passes are imaginative and lethal, and his shooting is as good as his passes, especially his long shots from the top of the arc are like guided missiles.

In addition, Van der Vaart, who is only 176cm tall, not only has excellent shooting ability with his feet, but also has a very strong heading ability. His sense of smell in the penalty area is world-class.

Van der Vaart's breakthroughs on the field are also very sharp, his deep passes are very penetrating, and his left-footed free kicks are also world-class.

The only pity is that Van der Vaart's meniscus injury is too serious. Now at the age of 28, he can only exert 60% to 70% of his strength when he was 20 years old.

Van der Vaart is a world-class superstar who was delayed by injuries.

Therefore, on the field, Van der Vaart's biggest problem is confrontation. Van der Vaart's physique makes him very prone to injury.

However, at Tottenham, Van der Vaart also has protective support around him.

The support was the future Ballon d'Or winner, the Magic Flute: Luka Modric.

Modric's strength is absolutely world-class. Even though he is only 25 years old and unknown in Tottenham, head coach Ray can recognize Modric's core role in the team at a glance.

If Van der Vaart is the commander in the frontcourt, then Modric is the organizing core of the team.

Tottenham's free-style formation actually does not have a defensive midfielder. When the opponent attacks, basically all of them withdraw to defend. So for Tottenham, the transition from offense to defense is a very critical link, and this most critical link, and almost the most inconspicuous link, is undertaken by Modric.

To put it more bluntly, without Modric, Ray's free tactics would be a mess.

Compared with Van der Vaart, Modric is not the kind of player who has the aura of genius since childhood. In fact, because of the Yugoslav War, Modric did not have enough food since childhood, which led to his short stature in his youth, only growing to 171cm. Modric almost gave up football because of his height and weight.

Fortunately, in 2001, Modric's talent was spotted by the Croatian giant club Dinamo Zagreb among a vast crowd of people, and Modric's family life finally began to improve.

The talented Modric had been playing football quietly in Croatia until he met his agent, the beautiful Bosnic, who later became Modric's wife. The biggest influence Bosnic had on Modric was to get Modric to the Premier League Tottenham Hotspur team, and then to Real Madrid.

Compared with Van der Vaart, Modric's youth was unfortunate, but compared with his entire career, Modric is many times better than Van der Vaart.

Modric and Van der Vaart actually have many similarities in terms of technology, but first of all, Modric has a very humble character. He is not as arrogant as Van der Vaart, nor will he say to Ibrahimovic like Van der Vaart, "You stepped on my foot." He is also not as easily injured as Van der Vaart, and is more confrontational.

Van der Vaart's idol is Cruyff. When he debuted, he was called Little Cruyff and his dream was to join Barcelona.

Modric’s idol is also Cruyff. When he debuted, he was also called Little Cruyff. His dream is to join Barcelona.

Although they all joined Real Madrid.

Modric has very balanced skills with both feet, his playing style is elegant, his positioning during the transition from offense to defense is also excellent, and his defense is also top-notch among offensive organizers. Modric looks thin and short, but in fact he has strong confrontation ability, and violent long-range shots are his forte.

Moreover, Modric has plenty of physical energy and is absolutely indestructible. He can sprint repeatedly at high speed.

Modric's characteristics are delicate technique and strong midfield organization ability, and Modric is very selfless on the court. Whatever the head coach arranges him to do, he can always do it very well.

Modric's nickname is Magic Flute. Many domestic fans think that this nickname is a homonym of the Chinese word "Modiqi", but it is not.

The title of Modric was first given by Real Madrid fans and the Spanish media.

This means that Modric can control the tempo of the game like the Magic Flute in the fairy tale.

Modric is a true midfield maestro.

...(End of this chapter)