Liverpool: Why no song for Kuyt?
Dirk Kuyt is one of the most opinion-dividing players in Liverpool's history.
Aside from perhaps Momo Sissoko, no player has consistantly drawn such high praise from some quarters, and vehement vitriol from others since Stan Collymore. Why is that then?
We all love our heros. Players who make us rise off our seats in anticipation. Who make us applaud loudly and get the blood pressure and volume up. Players like Torres, Gerrard, Fowler, McManaman, Owen, Barnes, Dalglish etc. As a club, we've been fairly well blessed with players who've inspired and enthralled. Their songs are known even by fans who never saw them play live. Their names are legend, their feats mythical.
Dirk Kuyt is most certainly not one of these players. In terms of making it into any Liverpool fans' all time top eleven, the dinamic Dutchman would have to rely on a severe injury crisis to even get into the top 100. But yet why then, in the face of such damning opinion, does he consistantly appear in our first eleven, in the league and in Europe, in a position he had never played before joining us, ahead of more naturally talented players like Babel, Pennant, El Zhar and Benayoun?
It's not his goal record that's for sure. 27 strikes in 106 appearances at a games-to-goal ratio of just under 4 may have been passable in the mid-90s, but in this age of superstars and teen-scoring midfielders it just isn't enough for a £10million forward.
Yet again, I ask the question, why on earth is this apparently goal-shy, technically fallible misplaced forward continually in our line-up?
Well, there's his work-rate for one. I have never seen a man run as far, as frequently, for as long as he has. If he weren't a footballer and earning better money, he could easily boost the Netherland's olympic medal hopes in long-distance running. The amount of grass he covers in a single game defies logic sometimes, and perhaps a measure of how much we see this is that I actually goggled the other night while watching the end of the PSV game when a stat flashed up to show that Alonso had in fact beaten him in terms of distance covered during the match. I think sometimes we take it for granted.
But then running isn't everything. I read a stat somewhere a year or so ago that showed that on average the player who ran the most during Liverpool games (provided he started and finished the match) after Kuyt was Peter Crouch! Not your usual suspects like Gerrard (who admittedly does like a little rest after bombing forward sometimes) or Mascherano (who also does tend to hang back a bit when he's tired). This might just be because his strides are so much longer than other peoples' but it shows that work-rate in itself is not a primary attribute to get you in a team.
The key, in fact, to Dirks incredible stamina and it's use to the team is not so much how far he runs but when and where he does it. There's not a lot of point chasing down twenty long balls to the corner flag just on the off-chance of winning one corner and then saying you have a high workrate. Kuyt will chase and press and harry the opposition when they have the ball. If he wins it, he'll pass it to someone else and then bomb off making a run, creating a gap. If we lose the ball, he'll then scamper back to cover and retrieve. In short, the lad never stops. If he hasn't got the ball he's trying to get it. If he has, he's trying to use it. If we haven't got it, he's working as hard as Carra to win it back.
Again all very laudable, but hardly the golden trait of a top four regular surely? Well, next time you're watching Liverpool attack, look for Kuyt and what he's doing. Is he head down and straight for the penalty spot a la Baros? No. Is he waiting impatiently on the touchline screaming for someone to notice him a la Cisse? No. He's running through the defence, not particularly hoping for the ball, but creating space, and unsettling the back line. I would go so far as to say that Kuyt is our most intelligent striker. He uses that monumental motor of his to open gaps up and allow others to move in. Watch the first goal against Everton again. Would Torres have had the freedom of Goodison to volley home had Kuyt not run from the right hand touchline, into the middle and then across to the near post, dragging two defender with him? Doubtful. Even in the second goal, it was his burst into the box that allowed room for Torres to bury the loose ball and Everton's hopes.
His technical ability can't be that bad. This is a man who outscored Van Nistelrooy, Vennegoor of Hesselink and Huntelaar during his time in the Eredivisie. And let's not forget that his knack of scoring crucial goals in Europe has served us very well over the last two years or so. Maybe he genuinely does have a problem in England with being hurried in front of goal. Maybe he has less confidence about shooting knowing he's about to get clattered. I doubt it's either of the above, I just simply think that after a decent but not quite good enough first season, he's been sacrificed in favour of more talented frontment in the league. Because counter-attacks remain a vital source of goals for us domestically, by the time Kuyt has worked his way into a decent position and someone's actually deigned to notice him, Torres or Gerrard has already put the ball in the net. The arrival of Keane will probably see his league form dip further.
But as the man said himself, he doesn't really care so long as the team wins. He'd happily play at right back for us (and believe me, I've thought about this seriously as an option) and would be pleased as long as we win.
His mentality is second to none. In training he's apparently as dedicated and energetic as matchdays. After every home game, even if he's been subbed, he'll come back out onto the pitch to applaud all four corners of the ground for their support.
Alright so, he won't ever be as fancy or as dashing as Luis Garcia, he won't outscore Torres and he won't have the rapport of Gerrard. We won't think of him as affectionately as Carra, and we won't ever hold him up against rival top four players in a good light. But Rafa is no idiot and he recognises Kuyt's continual vital contribution to the team. We should too, as I bet you we wouldn't be half as good as we are at the moment without guys like him putting in the long long long yards to make the stars look brighter.
Dirk Kuyt is one of the most opinion-dividing players in Liverpool's history.
Aside from perhaps Momo Sissoko, no player has consistantly drawn such high praise from some quarters, and vehement vitriol from others since Stan Collymore. Why is that then?
We all love our heros. Players who make us rise off our seats in anticipation. Who make us applaud loudly and get the blood pressure and volume up. Players like Torres, Gerrard, Fowler, McManaman, Owen, Barnes, Dalglish etc. As a club, we've been fairly well blessed with players who've inspired and enthralled. Their songs are known even by fans who never saw them play live. Their names are legend, their feats mythical.
Dirk Kuyt is most certainly not one of these players. In terms of making it into any Liverpool fans' all time top eleven, the dinamic Dutchman would have to rely on a severe injury crisis to even get into the top 100. But yet why then, in the face of such damning opinion, does he consistantly appear in our first eleven, in the league and in Europe, in a position he had never played before joining us, ahead of more naturally talented players like Babel, Pennant, El Zhar and Benayoun?
It's not his goal record that's for sure. 27 strikes in 106 appearances at a games-to-goal ratio of just under 4 may have been passable in the mid-90s, but in this age of superstars and teen-scoring midfielders it just isn't enough for a £10million forward.
Yet again, I ask the question, why on earth is this apparently goal-shy, technically fallible misplaced forward continually in our line-up?
Well, there's his work-rate for one. I have never seen a man run as far, as frequently, for as long as he has. If he weren't a footballer and earning better money, he could easily boost the Netherland's olympic medal hopes in long-distance running. The amount of grass he covers in a single game defies logic sometimes, and perhaps a measure of how much we see this is that I actually goggled the other night while watching the end of the PSV game when a stat flashed up to show that Alonso had in fact beaten him in terms of distance covered during the match. I think sometimes we take it for granted.
But then running isn't everything. I read a stat somewhere a year or so ago that showed that on average the player who ran the most during Liverpool games (provided he started and finished the match) after Kuyt was Peter Crouch! Not your usual suspects like Gerrard (who admittedly does like a little rest after bombing forward sometimes) or Mascherano (who also does tend to hang back a bit when he's tired). This might just be because his strides are so much longer than other peoples' but it shows that work-rate in itself is not a primary attribute to get you in a team.
The key, in fact, to Dirks incredible stamina and it's use to the team is not so much how far he runs but when and where he does it. There's not a lot of point chasing down twenty long balls to the corner flag just on the off-chance of winning one corner and then saying you have a high workrate. Kuyt will chase and press and harry the opposition when they have the ball. If he wins it, he'll pass it to someone else and then bomb off making a run, creating a gap. If we lose the ball, he'll then scamper back to cover and retrieve. In short, the lad never stops. If he hasn't got the ball he's trying to get it. If he has, he's trying to use it. If we haven't got it, he's working as hard as Carra to win it back.
Again all very laudable, but hardly the golden trait of a top four regular surely? Well, next time you're watching Liverpool attack, look for Kuyt and what he's doing. Is he head down and straight for the penalty spot a la Baros? No. Is he waiting impatiently on the touchline screaming for someone to notice him a la Cisse? No. He's running through the defence, not particularly hoping for the ball, but creating space, and unsettling the back line. I would go so far as to say that Kuyt is our most intelligent striker. He uses that monumental motor of his to open gaps up and allow others to move in. Watch the first goal against Everton again. Would Torres have had the freedom of Goodison to volley home had Kuyt not run from the right hand touchline, into the middle and then across to the near post, dragging two defender with him? Doubtful. Even in the second goal, it was his burst into the box that allowed room for Torres to bury the loose ball and Everton's hopes.
His technical ability can't be that bad. This is a man who outscored Van Nistelrooy, Vennegoor of Hesselink and Huntelaar during his time in the Eredivisie. And let's not forget that his knack of scoring crucial goals in Europe has served us very well over the last two years or so. Maybe he genuinely does have a problem in England with being hurried in front of goal. Maybe he has less confidence about shooting knowing he's about to get clattered. I doubt it's either of the above, I just simply think that after a decent but not quite good enough first season, he's been sacrificed in favour of more talented frontment in the league. Because counter-attacks remain a vital source of goals for us domestically, by the time Kuyt has worked his way into a decent position and someone's actually deigned to notice him, Torres or Gerrard has already put the ball in the net. The arrival of Keane will probably see his league form dip further.
But as the man said himself, he doesn't really care so long as the team wins. He'd happily play at right back for us (and believe me, I've thought about this seriously as an option) and would be pleased as long as we win.
His mentality is second to none. In training he's apparently as dedicated and energetic as matchdays. After every home game, even if he's been subbed, he'll come back out onto the pitch to applaud all four corners of the ground for their support.
Alright so, he won't ever be as fancy or as dashing as Luis Garcia, he won't outscore Torres and he won't have the rapport of Gerrard. We won't think of him as affectionately as Carra, and we won't ever hold him up against rival top four players in a good light. But Rafa is no idiot and he recognises Kuyt's continual vital contribution to the team. We should too, as I bet you we wouldn't be half as good as we are at the moment without guys like him putting in the long long long yards to make the stars look brighter.
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