Is Kuyt above criticism?

[REDSCOUSER]

There is a lot over reaction and BULL**** going on when it comes to Kuyt. What people dont realise that he is in his first season in England. The Dutch league is weaker for sure but if he has performed that well so far this season, imagine how much better he's gonna be next season or the one after.
I think he's gonna be top class for us.

[FowlerLeftFoot]

"He trains at the same level as the rest of the other players in every training session. If you see the number of goals that he scores in training it's fantastic. You see that in every training session.

"Robbie is a very clever player, especially at home, and can be a good option for us.

"For me, Robbie during the season can be a very good player for us. Sometimes, if you're having trouble scoring, you can use him because he is clever and can do it."

Benitez said: "He's a really good finisher, still the best we have, and I sometimes think that if we could have Bellamy running at defenders and carrying the ball 20 yards, then turning into Fowler with the goal in sight, it would be perfect.

"If you create chances for him, you know you can rely on his finishing and that is a very important quality to have.

a hypocrite? what makes him a hypocrite?

[FowlerLeftFoot]

yes i see the best scoring ratio anybody has managed for Liverpool F.C this season....i see a couple of assists coming from him too...

maybe he couldnt play the whole 90 mins, but definately he could be useful for the last 20-30 mins in any game??

Take off the rose tinted Robbie Fowler circa 1994-1999 glasses and what do you see now?

Like the rest of us you see a player - by modern day standards - in poor to mediocre physical condition, mostly the fault of injuries.

The ability is still there, the body is no longer willing.

[FowlerLeftFoot]

fortunately, the statistics prove otherwise.

Yeah maybe. Or maybe Robbie just isn't good enough any more.

[Neil Young]

They don't actually prove anything.

[FowlerLeftFoot]

why do maintain a statistical table over a season then..just for fun?

18 league titles, 5 euro cups, these too are statistics..

They don't actually prove anything.

[Sir Bob]

I'm prepared to be a heretic and say that in my view I don't think any of our strikers are good enough for the first eleven of a top four club but the one I like best is Crouch.

I really thought we tore them apart yesterday and did everything except score, which ultimately came back to haunt us in the dying moments.

If I were to give an assessment of Kuyt I'd say he is the kind of striker who'd make it in the Premiership but that he'd make it for one of the B list clubs rather than for an A list club like ourselves.

He's a supremely hard working lad so nobody can slag him off because what we get every game is the best he has to offer and there aren't enough professionals like him.

But in terms of assessing his abilities then it strikes me that he is a tad short of pace, and his first touch is often lacking, and as a striker he appears a bit blunt to me in terms of threat. He is a hard working journeyman striker who has obvious flaws in his game.

A Premiership player? Most definitely. Deserving of love? For his workrate of course. But I don't think he is particularly threatening and for a striker that's not an assessment, if accurate, that one really wants to hear.

Personally, if all our strikers were moved on then I'd not protest. Two top notch strikers would transform our side. It strikes me that at the moment we have forwards who have some of the qualities we need, but no striker who has all of them, and none who are out and out natural goalscorers.

A very fair assessment in my view.
Kuyt tries hard but like all our strikers is good but not out of the top drawer.
Put it another way, if you were naming your top strikers in the league, you'd have to go down a fair way before you got to one of ours. And for a side aiming to win the title, thats not good enough.

[anfieldanfield]

I'm prepared to be a heretic and say that in my view I don't think any of our strikers are good enough for the first eleven of a top four club but the one I like best is Crouch.

I really thought we tore them apart yesterday and did everything except score, which ultimately came back to haunt us in the dying moments.

If I were to give an assessment of Kuyt I'd say he is the kind of striker who'd make it in the Premiership but that he'd make it for one of the B list clubs rather than for an A list club like ourselves.

He's a supremely hard working lad so nobody can slag him off because what we get every game is the best he has to offer and there aren't enough professionals like him.

But in terms of assessing his abilities then it strikes me that he is a tad short of pace, and his first touch is often lacking, and as a striker he appears a bit blunt to me in terms of threat. He is a hard working journeyman striker who has obvious flaws in his game.

A Premiership player? Most definitely. Deserving of love? For his workrate of course. But I don't think he is particularly threatening and for a striker that's not an assessment, if accurate, that one really wants to hear.

Personally, if all our strikers were moved on then I'd not protest. Two top notch strikers would transform our side. It strikes me that at the moment we have forwards who have some of the qualities we need, but no striker who has all of them, and none who are out and out natural goalscorers.

Good post.

[Neil Young]

why do maintain a statistical table over a season then..just for fun?

18 league titles, 5 euro cups, these too are statistics..

You're in danger of comparing, if I may borrow a phrase, apples and yellow.

All Fowler's goalscoring statistics 'prove' is that he has scored some goals which isn't so much a proof as a tautology.

18 League titles 'prove' we won the League 18 times. This is commonly held to indicate that we were the best team in those 18 seasons.

Statistics are at best supporting evidence for any contention about whether a player should be in the team. If you want another statistic, how many Premiership goals has Robbie Fowler scored from open play?

You know the answer. So what does that suggest?

[Abro100]

Not slaggin him off but Kuyt has scored against this season.
Newcastle, Tottenham, Villa, Reading (2), Wigan, Bolton, Arsenal (FA), Chelsea, Westham.
Not the best of defences id say, true you can say doesnt get the chances but we have had the most shots on goal for a team this season i think.

[Outoftime]

Id say alunevans is right, we dont have the player who everyone fears, aka drogba rooney henry ronaldo ronaldinho eto'o etc.. Reputation and fear can do alot of damage before the game even kicked off.

what anelka could have given us....

[Shaggy]

what anelka could have given us....

Welcome Outoftime.

Great album.

[Abro100]

what anelka could have given us....

Err in a way yes, my one gripe is Anelka goes missing in the winter alot he scores in spurts 4 games 5 goals 9 games 0 goals.

[Kopite_Colin]

what anelka could have given us....

about 5 goals in half a season wasn't it?

[Abro100]

Yeah he aint prolific, he does give that fear factor though which is what i mean. Pull something out of nothing type of player