WOW - obviously odd game or two I see him play cant tell that statistic.
However, he is a player of real class IMO. Most importantly, he fits into our needs perfectly.
BTW, is the injury re-currence of past problems or a combination of freak instances? If it is the former, I am will probably loose a lot of my appetite for VDV.
First of all: yes he is a player of class. No argument there.
As for his injuries, I see why you haven't caught on to that trend if you don't watch HSV very often. I wouldn't've either but I'm a sucker for statistics to the point where I cling on to meaningless numbers. Anywho:
He was fit most of the time during his time at Ajax barring the last season which was a combination of freak instances. There is of course a line and if you cross it, it stops becoming a series of freak instances and turns into consistent injury. It's difficult to judge that at the time (for me), but I will say this:
1. When Ajax was playing well and he was very fit (seems to have gained some weight now) he was rarely injured. But with Sneyder also present, he was also rested relatively frequently.
2. When Ajax were struggling and he was struggling with injury, he seemed to pick up new injuries more easily although they usually weren't of the same nature. First the knee, then the hamstring, etc.
3. During his final months at Ajax and his first at HSV, he kept struggling with one knee in particular. It later turned out a doctor had left some obsolete 'loose' bone in there (during surgery) by accident which of course started to cause trouble. It was mostly unfortunate rather than a physical weakness. Anyone's knee would break down over that treatment (multiple surgeries to restore the faults of a previous surgery combined with heavy training because his teams were struggling and they needed him).
Give it one more season but I'm starting to suspect Van der Vaart's body will only allow him to play, say, 75% of all matches every season. He seems to need a proper amount of rest.