Who is better, van der Vaart or Brooking?
Rafael van der Vaart leads with a GOAT score of 79.8 against 79.8 for Sir Trevor David Brooking — a gap of 0.0 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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van der Vaart vs Brooking
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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
van der VaartWinner
79.8van der Vaart wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours, Statistics
Brooking
79.8Brooking wins: Longevity
Candidates
Locked to FootballShareable URL · /compare/rafael-van-der-vaart-vs-trevor-brooking
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇳🇱 Rafael van der Vaart
79.8
van der Vaart leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Rafael van der Vaart
2. Sir Trevor David Brooking
Category breakdown
Season form · Goals per season
Career timeline · Goals per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Through age 21 · Goals per season
1. 🇳🇱 Rafael van der Vaart46 goals
5 seasons by age 21 · 9.2 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
2. 🏴 Sir Trevor David Brooking16 goals
2 seasons by age 21 · 8 per season
Brooking is -65.2% behind van der Vaart's pace at age 21
Every career is cut at the season the athlete turned 21, so a rookie today is measured against exactly what a legend had banked by the same birthday.
| Metric | van der VaartRetired | BrookingRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands caps | 109 | — |
| Netherlands goals | 25 | — |
| Eredivisie titles | 2 | — |
| Golden Boy awards | 1 | — |
| Career league goals | 135 | — |
| League goals | — | 102 |
| FA Cup titles | — | 2 |
| England caps | — | 47 |
| West Ham POTY | — | 5 |
| Second Division titles | — | 1 |
| Dominance w25% | 80 | 78 |
| Peak w20% | 86 | 80 |
| Longevity w20% | 75 | 88 |
| Honours w20% | 78 | 75 |
| Statistics w15% | 80 | 78 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
van der Vaart79.8
Brooking79.8
The people
van der Vaart
Brooking
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Where does Brooking beat van der Vaart?
Brooking scores higher on longevity. van der Vaart leads on peak, dominance, honours, statistics.
How is the van der Vaart vs Brooking score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. van der Vaart: 79.8, Brooking: 79.8.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for van der Vaart vs Brooking. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.