Kuyt

[Mattshark]

I love Kuyt, I think he got a lot of balls, but the fact is he's **** and has has been for a while. The odd good game her and there is not good enough if we want to win things.

Rubbish, you do little but criticise him, you ignore his good performances and go hyperbolic on criticism if he has an off game.

[cream]

Rubbish, you do little but criticise him, you ignore his good performances and go hyperbolic on criticism if he has an off game.

Which is usually quite often

[Mattshark]

Which is usually quite often

It isn't though, you just convince yourself it is thus removing your ability to objectively look at his performances.

[dww]

I think people tend to criticise Kuyt for not being what they want rather than not actually being bad at what he does. When we play deep he is largely a defensive wide player and he will never bring pace to the game. However he would be fine in a role akin to that played by Parlour for Arsenal when Overmars was on the other flank. Higher up the pitch he is a good player but sometimes again suffers from not being the aesthetically pleasing player people dream about.

People often undervalue the intelligence that is combined with his endless running. They also tend to suggest that we should expect his level of commitment from every player - which is surprising given that you see it from at most 5 attacking players in the whole league.

There is absolutely no way we would find as useful a utility forward for the sort of value we might get by selling him. It is in many ways a feature of United's recent success that they have not had many star players but their squad has been made up of players with the right attitude and who can do a number of roles within the way Fergie wants to play to a high level. I find it really hard to understand why anyone would want us to sell him.

[kopite5times]

Kuyt is ****E............. when played as a winger. He cant cross the ball or dribble, and lacks pace. However he IS and always has been a striker, he has a strikers instinct to be in the right place at the right time. When used as a striker he is a decent player.

Now we have Suarez and Carroll i would definatley keep Kuyt as a 3rd striker, he will be a invaluable squad member.
Ive always liked Kuyt, but couldnt help criticise him when played as a winger.

We need proper wingers in the summer, i really hope we get rid of that certified dwarf that is MAXI, honestly he is a joke of a player. Offers nothing at all.

I blame Benitez for Kuyt's downfall, bought him as a striker and sticks him on the wing, Lucas was a attacking midfielder in Brazil and got the young player of the year there... what does benitez do...... tells him he's a defensive midfielder......... Benitez was obviously crazy, although he gave us some good times.

[dom9]

Kuyt is ****E............. when played as a winger. He cant cross the ball or dribble, and lacks pace. However he IS and always has been a striker, he has a strikers instinct to be in the right place at the right time. When used as a striker he is a decent player.

Now we have Suarez and Carroll i would definatley keep Kuyt as a 3rd striker, he will be a invaluable squad member.
Ive always liked Kuyt, but couldnt help criticise him when played as a winger.

We need proper wingers in the summer, i really hope we get rid of that certified dwarf that is MAXI, honestly he is a joke of a player. Offers nothing at all.

I blame Benitez for Kuyt's downfall, bought him as a striker and sticks him on the wing, Lucas was a attacking midfielder in Brazil and got the young player of the year there... what does benitez do...... tells him he's a defensive midfielder......... Benitez was obviously crazy, although he gave us some good times.

Wind Up Merchant

[dww]

I find it odd that people find it so hard to accept that in differing environments players might do better at different jobs as they mature (look at how and where Scholes and Giggs play now compared to when they started for example).

Kuyt isn't really a traditional winger but he has done a very good job as a narrow right sided midfielder and a wide forward. The fact we have lacked the former type of player shouldn't be used as a criticism of Kuyt (or indeed Rafa or Roy's use of him).

[Rudo]

I think people tend to criticise Kuyt for not being what they want rather than not actually being bad at what he does. When we play deep he is largely a defensive wide player and he will never bring pace to the game. However he would be fine in a role akin to that played by Parlour for Arsenal when Overmars was on the other flank. Higher up the pitch he is a good player but sometimes again suffers from not being the aesthetically pleasing player people dream about.

People often undervalue the intelligence that is combined with his endless running. They also tend to suggest that we should expect his level of commitment from every player - which is surprising given that you see it from at most 5 attacking players in the whole league.

There is absolutely no way we would find as useful a utility forward for the sort of value we might get by selling him. It is in many ways a feature of United's recent success that they have not had many star players but their squad has been made up of players with the right attitude and who can do a number of roles within the way Fergie wants to play to a high level. I find it really hard to understand why anyone would want us to sell him.

Kuyt's proved to be a big game player time and time again.

He'll always produce something - chase down a defender to force a mistake,
set up a goal or nick one himself.

Kuyt

[Mostar]

I respect and appreciate his work rate and effort he puts in time and time again and he definitely deserves the tons of credit for the poaching performance on Sunday but I personally don't want to see him regularly with Suarez and Carroll in the same team.

We will need a winger (having offensive minded fullbacks would be useful too) to stretch the defense and opens things up for Carroll and/or Luis and Kuyt is just not suited to give you much in that regard.

He's good, good servant and definitely deserves the place in the squad but if we do bring few offensive players in the summer I don't expect him to be in the starting 11.

[cream]

Kuyt's proved to be a big game player time and time again.

He'll always produce something - chase down a defender to force a mistake,
set up a goal or nick one himself.

Kuyt

He does that in the big games, why not the rest of the time?

Contunually gives the ball away, can't make a five yard pass, embarrases himself when trying to take players on, its cringeworthy. He shouldn't be playing in the wide areas and the striker position will be taken up by Carroll with Suarez as back up, which leaves him as third choice, which is about right.

We need players who will perform on a regular basis, not ones that will raise themselves for big games. the highlight of our season should be winning trophys, not a win against Chelsea and Man U.

[RedReet]

Tomkins on Kuyt after Sunday...

And of course, then there’s Dirk Kuyt. Constantly questioned, Kuyt yet again proved that he is the ultimate big-game player. This is the third outstanding game he’s had as the spearhead striker since Kenny’s return, following on from the games against Stoke and Chelsea; and of course, two of the three came in massive fixtures.



To go with goals against Chelsea, Arsenal and Everton (who, of course, only belong in that company by virtue of the derby), he now has a hat-trick against United. This means that he now has at least three goals against those opponents. This is before getting onto the vital goals at key times in games, like the one that qualified the Reds for the Champions League against Standard Liège in 2008, or the late goal in Athens that gave us a couple of minutes to contemplate adding that city to a list including Istanbul.

In a strange way, he’s better when the opposition is stronger, because the tempo is often higher. In the last few games – since the victory over Chelsea, in which he was immense – he’d looked terrible (but of course, even at his worst, he gives 100%, and that can have infectious properties.)

Perhaps he needs the Reds’ best technical players to be around him – so that it’s closer to the Dutch national team, for which successive managers continue to find space for him in the XI, despite an excess of far more naturally gifted individuals. While there’s the guarantee of great technique when picking from Van Persie, Sneijder, Van der Vaart and a host of others, those chosen are almost always supplemented by Kuyt.

If the game is slow, Kuyt can look clunky, with his bandy legs you could drive a bus through. But here’s the paradox: usually clunky players look even worse when there’s less time, and they’re hurried; strangely, Kuyt often looks better.

His one-touch passing can be superb, and while lacking pace and silky skills, he somehow swerves past defenders and makes things happen. Perhaps most of all he needs to be surrounded by movement, and under Dalglish – in the total opposite of Hodgson, when it was glaringly absent – Liverpool have that in spades in the majority of games.

Kuyt has a brilliant understanding of space, and is therefore able to find players who move off of him; static team-mates leave him exposed, and he gets in a muddle. While more pace is clearly needed in the team – and with the wings the obvious position for it (if Carroll and Suárez are to be the usual striking combo) – Kuyt’s place has to be under threat to a degree come the summer. But his versatility and attitude – as well as an aptitude for pass-and-move – should keep him as a key component of the squad, even if he doesn’t start as often.

[Mattshark]

7 prem goals and 5 assists this season, not bad for what some make out to be an utterly useless player.

[yamiedo]

Suso without any doubt at all.

Your obssession with Suso is alarming. He is far too young to say he is going to be a permanent LFC player in the future, let alone now! Give the lad time, he's not ready for the first team and if Kenny thought he was he'd put him in. Kenny know's best.

[Red_Polo]

Your obssession with Suso is alarming. He is far too young to say he is going to be a permanent LFC player in the future, let alone now! Give the lad time, he's not ready for the first team and if Kenny thought he was he'd put him in. Kenny know's best.

You obviously don't remember the Insua love affair. The Suso love represents a climbdown if anything. I'm amazed he doesn't learn though, the lovable loon he is.

[cream]

Worked hard again last night...