Van der Vaart: I expect more of myself

Hamburg midfielder Rafael van der Vaart feels that he can help his side ‘even more’ when they return from the winter break.

The club currently sit 10th in the Bundesliga with the Dutchman providing five assists and scoring one goal for his team so far, but he insists that he can still to do better in different areas.

“I can improve my finishing. Normally I have to score 10 times per season. So far, I only scored one,” the 29-year-old told Kicker.

“Of course, if this doesn’t work out I have to try to help (the team) in other areas. Even though I succeeded with that, I still expect more of myself. I really felt that I could help the team to win again. But I think I can even help more.”

He then took the time to reflect on Hamburg’s season so far and stressed that success needs to be built over time and will not come instantly.

“Yes, we do have potential and played some good matches during the first half of the season, but bad ones as well,” he said.

“We cannot forget where we’re coming from. When I arrived at Hamburg, everybody was saying: ‘next year, the big HSV will play in the second league’.

“Now, all of the sudden, everyone expects us to qualify for the Europa League again. This is too fast for me.”