Originally posted by bertie
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one on one with the keeper who would you rather have Kuyt (£9m) or Van Persie (£3m). nuff said
Van Perise??? Where does he come into it? Bar the fact he doesn't even play for us, he's hardly even the most natural finisher in the world.I think it's a very worrying sign if people are already criticising Kuyt after that performance. He made some wonderful runs off the ball and played brilliantly just off Torres.
As someone pointed out earlier, Kuyt is always well received by the fans at the stadium. I think most of his biggest critics (not all) probably don’t get to many matches, and this is what causes the great divide. They base their views on selected TV images, highlights or even what they read in the paper. The ridiculous argument that he doesn’t score enough goals for a forward really emphasises this point. Excluding the fact that he did have a decent goal return last year, he has so much more to his game. I was at the West Ham game when he made his debut, and when he came on I spent the rest of the game focused on him, rather than the match. He obviously isn’t the best-looking person in the world, so that isn’t what grabbed my attention. I was just amazed at his approach to the game and his determination. He caused West Ham so many problems, not only with the ball at his feet, but off the ball also. There was one point when West Ham had a throw-in in a pretty neutral area, Kuyt ran about 40 yards, past about 3 or 4 of his own players just to pressure the player about to receive the ball, and inevitably we won possession back seconds later. I think stuff like this is priceless.
Garcia is a great example to prove my point. Like Kuyt, opinions of him were severely divided. I’d imagine though that most of his biggest supporters didn’t get to see him live too often. Because of his goals they overlooked his other deficiencies, the things that so often caused the Anfield crowd to groan and shout during the game. Unfortunately though for Kuyt, it’s these same things that people tend to forget that make him such a useful addition to the squad.
Rafa traditionally likes to play one up front away from home, with a player behind to support. Kuyt is perfect for this role as yesterday proved. He pressurises the defence when not in possession, he chases back, he hits both wings and regardless of what people say, he is a genuine goal threat.
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