Rafael van der Vaart is no stranger to irking people with his brazen approach to punditry.
The former Tottenham and Ajax man’s words during the half-time of Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat to Arsenal annoyed Voetbal International reporter Süleyman Öztürk.
Van der Vaart, who also played for Los Blancos between 2008 and 2010, claimed that Bukayo Saka is a “very normal player, who has to do his best every day.”
This was in the wake of the England international’s penalty last week during the second leg of the Champions League clash – a Panenka against Thibaut Courtois, who was afforded enough time to knock the ball away after recomposing himself.
Van der Vaart blasted at Saka for his penalty. “I think this is total overestimation of himself. In the sense of: I’m going to steal the show here. While this is a very normal player, who has to do his best every day. What he’s doing now is just a disgrace.”
Now Öztürk has hit back at the former midfielder, saying in words picked up by FCupdate. “Of course I heard what was said about Bukayo Saka during the break. I found out during the break that he is not a good footballer at all based on one penalty.”
Öztürk added: “Saka is still quite young and very important for this team. I thought he played well, apart from the penalty. A great right winger, who has everything. You can blame [Kylian] Mbappé for never defending, but Saka does.”
He continued: “He is decisive like Vinícius Jr and is therefore three players in one. When someone says that to me, I ask myself: what is wrong with you, things are not going well with you. Then you must not have watched Saka’s last hundred games.”
