Rafael Van der Vaart unhappy at 'unnecessary' substitution

Rafael Van der Vaart today criticised Harry Redknapp's decision to substitute him during Tottenham's goalless draw with West Ham on Saturday.

With his team chasing a win, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp replaced the Holland international with striker Roman Pavlyuchenko in the 71st-minute - the 17th time Van der Vaart has been substituted since signing from Real Madrid last August.

The 28-year-old reacted poorly to the decision and stormed down the tunnel at White Hart Lane rather than watch the rest of the match from the bench.

It was the second consecutive game that Van der Vaart had snubbed his team-mates after a similarly petulant reaction to being replaced against AC Milan in the Champions League on March 9.

Redknapp admitted after the West Ham game that he was unimpressed with Van der Vaart's behaviour and would speak to his star man about it.

But the £8million World Cup finalist, who is away on international duty for the Euro 2012 double-header against Hungary, claimed that no meeting had taken place and expressed his disappointment that he rarely completes the full 90 minutes for Tottenham.