From Messiah to Pariah: Rafael van der Vaart's Fall from Grace at Hamburg

On Sunday at 14:52 local time, the Hamburg news account of German tabloid Bild revealed that the club would decide by the end of March on with whom they would pursue negotiations for new contracts. For club stars Rafael van der Vaart and Heiko Westermann, the chances of contract extensions were believed to be low.

Minutes prior, HSV's starting lineup to face Borussia Monchengladbach had been announced, with the veterans both left out of the starting XI despite being fit. The official team sheets announced about an hour before kick-off (tweeted by Bild) included Van der Vaart on the bench, but by the time the game began, the captain was removed from the squad altogether.

Sunday's omission will in likelihood be remembered as the final nail in the coffin of Van der Vaart's career at Hamburg. Once a club hero who rejoined HSV as a marquee signing, aimed to bring them back to their previous heights, the Dutchman is now expected to leave on a free transfer when his contract expires this summer. Even days before the game, well-informed newspaper Hamburger Morgenpost reported (in German) that Van der Vaart will leave at the end of June, with Ajax among his possible destinations.

Van der Vaart has long been a hero in Hamburg. In 2005, he joined the northern German club much to the surprise of many. Ajax legend Johan Cruijff, for example, wrote in De Telegraaf (per the official Bundesliga website): "I don't know what to say about it or what Rafael van der Vaart is doing in Hamburg," obviously perplexed that he'd turned down bigger clubs.

As a 22-year-old, Van der Vaart was ready to take on the world with HSV, and had an immediate impact. Hamburg qualified for the Champions League at the end of his first season and it didn't take long for him to be named captain. During his three-year stay, HSV finished third, seventh and fourth in the Bundesliga table. After receiving an offer from Real Madrid that was too good to refuse, the then-25-year-old moved on to what he hoped to be bigger and better things.

For Hamburg and Van der Vaart, however, the time apart didn't exactly go well. HSV invested the money from his and the sales of Nigel de Jong and Vincent Kompany rather ineffectively, and stagnated. Within four years, the Bundesliga's oldest club went from a UEFA Cup side to mid-table anonymity to flirting with relegation: In 2012, Hamburg finished 15th in the table.

Van der Vaart, meanwhile, often played at Real but was far less prolific in attack than he'd been at Hamburg and was sold to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2010 as part of the Spanish giants' purge of all things related to Barcelona hero Cruijff. Van der Vaart spent two seasons at White Hart Lane, but when Hamburg-born billionaire and HSV part-owner Klaus-Michael Kuhne offered to bring him back to Germany in the summer of 2012, the Dutchman jumped at the opportunity.

Van der Vaart was welcomed with open arms at Hamburg and had a great first season, scoring five goals and assisting 10 more to lead the club to a seventh-placed finish. By the numbers, his productivity was similar in 2013-14: Seven goals and nine assists in the Bundesliga. Yet Hamburg overall were dreadful and finished 16th in the table, only avoiding relegation by winning a play-off.

All of the Dutchman's good performances came in the first half of the season: He was goalless with just two assists after the winter break as his team spiraled towards oblivion.

Van der Vaart's frustration appears to have boiled over this season, and he's accumulated more yellow cards (seven) than goals and assists combined, with Hamburg standing 14th in the table. He's played the full 90 minutes on just three occasions, and rather than being a leader, he was an absolute passenger in defeats to Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich as well as even lesser sides like Hertha and Cologne.

Last season, when the going got tough, Van der Vaart was nowhere to be found. And now there's little reason to expect more from the aging star. He seems to have given up long ago, having produced precious little over the last 14 months. With relegation now a growing possibility once more, that's not the kind of attitude that's acceptable from a captain, or even a squad player.

The player's removal from Josef Zinnbauer's squad last weekend was a clear signal from the coach that in spite of Van der Vaart's abundant talent and status in the club, even he is not above a humbling.

Once revered for choosing HSV over a multitude of other possibilities, Van der Vaart is fast becoming a pariah at Hamburg. Bild's Mathias Sonnenberg put it well in a recent column (in German) when he said the player has split his club's fanbase, with some believing his time was up while others insisted he still is the same player they grew to love a decade ago.

For himself and his club, Van der Vaart has had little to say. When asked about his future last month, he told reporters (per ESPN): "What happens after June is not in my hands. But I don't feel any pressure. I am totally relaxed."

Therein could lay the problem. Van der Vaart is a veteran player with an illustrious career and many achievements to fall back on. Especially since his return, he's been almost doing the club a favor by gracing the Imtech Arena with his presence. He doesn't need a new contract at what has become a wreck of a club, and he in all likelihood won't get one (according to a Bild report earlier this week, the decision is final).

The 32-year-old will continue to receive his paycheck whether he plays or not, and won't have to worry about falling to the 2. Bundesliga with HSV. He may even have an agreement for his next destination already. It's therefore natural that Van der Vaart is "relaxed" and doesn't feel any pressure despite his team being just two points clear of the relegation zone.

It's not that he never loved Hamburg, but the situation has changed for Van der Vaart, and it's hard to justify continuing to give every bit of effort when the return is so small and is often nullified by simple errors from teammates.

Last weekend's benching was a long time coming and may have signaled the end of Van der Vaart and Hamburg's love affair. Once considered HSV's messiah, the Dutchman now looks headed for an unceremonious exit.

@Mr_Bundesliga