QUANTITY OR QUALITY?
Dirk Kuyt costs us 10 million quid and was bought to score goals, nothing more, nothing less. Last season he did fairly well and scored some goals. No one can ever fault his work rate but we didn’t pay 10m quid for a guy to run, run, and run. This season he has been our worst player with the exception of Sissoko. He plays well in a game or two but in this level and for this club, we can ill afford these kinds of performances. We need quality class playing week in and week out. By playing Dirk Kuyt in the Liverpool FC first team is like playing every game with ten men as he does not offer Liverpool FC the striking threat. Yet he gets 90 minutes of playing time almost every other week.
Here’s how Benitez gets it all wrong. Why is he being played as a winger when he should be playing as a backup striker? We should be playing Benayoun or Pennant out on the wing because they offer a width of a goal threat.
In my mind, Dirk Kuyt has should be sold as no manager in my mind should be around for another season. Then again, this makes you wonder Peter Crouch’s lack of contribution to the Liverpool FC 1st eleven. Does Peter Crouch not offer strategic value to the team for Rafael Benitez? My thoughts are that he should have started against Manchester United together with Fernando Torres to begin with! He would have caused problems for the Man Utd defense led by the out-of-sorts Ferdinand in terms of height and strategy. Instead, I feel we just made it easier for Man Utd by playing Dirk Kuyt.
It is to my attention that others say that Dirk Kuyt is playing the wings because we do not have players capable enough in that role. However, why are Benayoun and Pennant are kept on the reserves bench? Benitez tactics are questionable when Dirk Kuyt is selected every week to play. His work rate and running is good but the English Premier League is not the London marathon. We need goals and Dirk Kuyt is not helping that cause.
Dirk Kuyt may or may not be Rafael Benitez expensive mistake. However, I doubt that Liverpool FC we will be lucky to get the returns of investment out of him. My suggestions is that Liverpool FC should use Dirk Kuyt as part of an exchange strategy plan to buy an up and coming star or flair player.
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COME ONE COME ALL THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 5 2008 @ THE M BAR @ 7:30PM.
10 comments:
i think dirk kuyt offer something else for liverpool fc. his work rate sometimes bring benefit that maybe some people cant see. his running most of the time provide defensive cover in the upper half of the field, which make it harder for opponent to counter attack us, plus his crossing is by far better than pennenat or even benayoun.
If we were a team bursting with attacking talent and samba flair where everyone from the forwards right down to the centre backs are a goal threat, stepovers, overhead kicks and long range piledrivers aplenty, then YES, Kuyt will be a very useful character indeed...
However, we are anything but an attacking team, in fact we are actually piss poor going forwards (ok, ok Torres and Gerrard aside) so in place of graft i too would prefer more craft. If i wanted some defensive cover, i would play a wing back or a defensive bugger in Kuyt's position... but seeing that we are normally rather solid than most at the back, i fail to see why i need an 'extra' insurance policy, eh?
It is for this very reason that none of us are manager of Liverpool FC and it is Rafa Benitez that is in place.
Yes, Kuyt is (was?) a striker at the time of purchase and he did play in that position for majority of the time as well. However, his industry has prompted Rafa to use him differently as is obvious now. Part of the reason he is playing on the wings is that being a striker, he knows how to deliver balls for Torres. And it was correct to point out that his stamina and constant running provides defensive cover up front. We should not keep with the perception that defense is only limited for the defenders on even the defensive midfields. In his heyday, Rushie did that for us too but to be fair, he scored too.
Beggars can't be choosers. Lord knows we need a flair midfielder/winger or striker. Where do we find the dosh to buy them? Which club do you see is offering their prized front man for sale?
For those who think Kuyt is a liability, I do not fully disagree with you. However, be fair and objective enough to see that we've only lost once (and that because we were down to 10 men, got cheated, yada yada yada) in was it 8 or 7 games with Kuyt out on the right playing Rafa's now preferred 4-2-3-1 system. Tell me now then, where is the folly in that?
Hahahahaha ... Dirk Kuyt - he is one player where there is partisan crowd requesting for his sale and that he is not good enough for the Liverbird on his chest.
But if you analyse further, we have been on this run of 7 wins in our last 8 matches and like RAFA says, he bring balance to the team between attack and defence.
I reckon if he had been a little bit younger and more pacey, the fans would have taken him like Babel and given him time. Alas, Kuyt came as a goal scorer from Feyernoord and hence, was expecting him to be banging in goals as a striker. But it is something which he has trouble doing as he is out wide .... would anyone prefer to have Torres out wide instead. of course not .... hence, given the limited options that we have and Pennant and Benayoun underperforming for various reasons, Kuyt has been out wide in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Torres at the top.
Benayoun and Pennant are probably a little lightweight to be playing in that wide position that Kuyt is presently occupying. Both have decent pace and can cross fairly well but when it comes to the attacking side, seems a little lacking in the strikers' instinct department. Eg. look at the Torres goal against Bluenoses, it was Kuyt who had be in the middle instead of Torres and hence that created the little extra space for Torres to score. It could have been vice versa but under current confidence level, Kuyt might have ballooned it wide as he has done countless time. I reckon its that striker's instinct to go deep into opposition penalty box when attacking that RAFA feels Pennant and Benayoun is currently lacking.
Defensively, too, Kuyt has the stamina to chase up and down like an Energizer battery which both Benayoun and Pennant is lacking.
One could argue that Babel could be playing right instead but he is still lacking the stamina to last the full match.
Not forgetting too that when RAFA plays Kuyt, he knows Kuyt will die for the cause without asking questions. In that sense, Kuyt is similar to Carragher .... we might not have a team of Carraghers but we probably have 1.5 Carraghers .... :-)
Hence, RAFA's 'Kuyt brings balance to attack and defence' mantra when playing Kuyt.
One other thing I forgot to add is that if RAFA plays Benayoun or Pennant, RAFA knows or expects to make a sub for them in most matches and RAFA probably prefers Kuyt too as RAFA can save that sub option when required.
As an armchair footballer / fan / critic, one way I judge whether a player is worth his place in Liverpool's first 11 is to see whether he will also make it into one of the championship-winning side or any of the top 3 for that matter - and unfortunately it doesn't seem like it!
Ahhh crap, barely half an hour after I posted that Kuyt nails one against Arsenal. Well if this continues I'd gladly eat my words. And my shoes.
Mike - we'll love to video you eating your shoes in the next futsal friendly ... especially if the goal Kuyt scores yesterday proves to be the difference!
Oh yes he runs. Definitely.
That said, this is also the same guy whom the team will rely on when we're down to 10 men. The final leg against arsenal for instance, Kuyt, alongside Mascherano made runs that covered the whole bloody pitch!
And he does score goals, mind you. Crucial ones against Milan AND Arsenal. With Torres around, I see Kuyt as a safety net for any loose balls and such. He obviously does quite a number of the donkey work too. All for Torres.
He was bought on a tight budget afterall, don't be too harsh on the poor guy. Be glad that he's working much much harder than most of the cheap peanuts on the team who would gladly take their smaller price tags as an excuse for bad performances.
well, well, well, what a turn of fortune for kuyt. Over two legs of Champions League tie against the Gunners last week, he has proved to be invaluable to the Reds now. Eating words isnt a problem for indigestion but an acquired taste for shoes??? Thats gonna be a teeny problem for Miketee here, aint it??? teeheehee...
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