Kuyt

[dww]

I have learned to love Dirk, so long as he doesn’t play up front. He’s a rubbish striker but on the right for us he has been/is immense. He’s hardly ever injured (can anyone remember the last time he missed a game through injury??), puts an unreal shift in and has now added league goals to his game. He can sometimes still have his limitations exposed by 10 man defences, and at times like those I wish we had a more gifted alternative, but he’s become one of the first names on my team-sheet – not something I envisaged happening a year or so ago.

I think 10 man defenses have also shown the limitations of other, more popular and technically gifted players in our squad like Alonso too though. At the minute we don't have the right blend for those games (certainly not without a fit Torres any way).

He isn't a great lone front man or pivotal front man in attack but the same can (and is often) said of Rooney and they share many of the same faults in the position. I do think though that he can be a fine partner for Torres in a front two.

[Pacman]

Does it surprise anyone else to know that he has 8 league goals this season?

Dont get me wrong, it's not exactly prolific but bearing in mind he plays as a midfielder and doesnt possess the pace and quality of a Torres, it has to be said that this is a good return. I dont associate him with being a prolific goalscorer but he chips in every now and then. Clearly those odd goals have amounted to a pretty decent total so far this season.

To put it into context, Rooney is considered to be some kind of world class genius by the media - and he has 9 league goals. Defoe is thought of as an 'out and out goalscorer' - and he has 9 too.

Agbonlahor is often touted as being one of english football's brightest attacking stars - he has 10.

All of those three have good pace and all three are widely regarded as being very good players. Along with all the 'ugly' stuff Dirk does, he deserves a lot of credit for producing a decent amount of goals this campaign. And in terms of the media, he gets virtually none.

8 in the league (and 10 in all comps) so far is a very good return. Well in Dirk

Fair play.

Sometimes I think you're an arse but I think that's a great post.

I was thinking that the other day when he scored against Villa. How many other wingers to the amount of goals Dirk gets.

[dom9]

Kuyt really dug us out of a hole when Torres was injured earlier in the season.

[BG1973]

Dirk's like a footjob.

Unconventional but gets the job done and puts a smile on my face.

[Mattshark]

Imagine (and this isnt a dig at Riera, before people reach for the tar and feathers) if Riera had managed 7 or 8 league goals from the other wing, we'd be on course for having a very decent contribution of goals from the non-Torres or Gerrard wing of the attacking unit.

In future seasons, if we could get 25 league goals from Nando, 15-20 from Gerrard, and a combined 15 from Kuyt and Riera, that'd be a decent return from the front four.

Well he is only 3 off that.

[kev776]

I think Dirky boy has won over 99% of the sceptics and I suspect given the chance our young flairless Brazillian will do the same.

[Neil Young]

I think Dirky boy has won over 99% of the sceptics and I suspect given the chance our young hairless Brazillian will do the same.

Tautology.

[MrMichael]

Good thread.

I have learned to love Dirk, so long as he doesn’t play up front. He’s a rubbish striker but on the right for us he has been/is immense. He’s hardly ever injured (can anyone remember the last time he missed a game through injury??), puts an unreal shift in and has now added league goals to his game. He can sometimes still have his limitations exposed by 10 man defences, and at times like those I wish we had a more gifted alternative, but he’s become one of the first names on my team-sheet – not something I envisaged happening a year or so ago.

Dirk's one of my favourite players. I know exactly what he can't do (although, anyone see that 60 yard cross field ball not so long ago?), and do feel our squad could do with an alternative in that position that has different attributes from him, but with goals in his game Dirk Kuyt adds massively to our team and is a fantastic example to every young player in the squad.

If only I could find the thread from last summer in which I bet someone on here he's score 10+ this season.

[dww]

Tautology.

****

[Neil Young]

****

Reported.

Reason: personal abuse.

[BFG]

Tautology.

Kuyt is a very special player and no matter who we sign in the summer I still expect him to play the vast majority of games next season. Back in the Holland team too with Sneider and Van Der Vaart sulking on the bench.

[MrMichael]

Well he is only 3 off that.

League? Really?

Riera baffles me a bit. He's had some great games, and some anonymous ones; he was poor against ManU but great v Villa. Goal scoring is not something I think he'll ever be very regular at, which is a bit of a quandry was really we need both the wide right and left players in this formation to be weighing in with close to double figures/season. Particularly as Masch/Alonso rarely find the net.

[Ketario]

Moreover 4 or so of those goals have been in the last 10 mins of matches and 2 have of them have won us a match in the last min. That's discounting the 85th equaliser against Pompey. Mentality is strong in this one.

[The Birdman]

I read somewhere that all of Kuyt's goals this season have been 'important' and by that I mean they were either the 1st goal i.e Villa or late, late last minute winners (Man City), he hasn't scored the 3rd in a 5-0 win or anything like that.
All of them vital game changing or point winning goals.

I'll hold my hands up as another who has shouted in frustration at him previously and I still think he'll develop into our 'ideal squad player' as someone who will play 40 odd games but across 3 or 4 different positions throughout the season.
If Rafa adds a pacy wide right player then he simply won't get in the 1st choice XI next season but you know you can always rely on him

[dww]

League? Really?

Riera baffles me a bit. He's had some great games, and some anonymous ones; he was poor against ManU but great v Villa. Goal scoring is not something I think he'll ever be very regular at, which is a bit of a quandry was really we need both the wide right and left players in this formation to be weighing in with close to double figures/season. Particularly as Masch/Alonso rarely find the net.

I'm not so sure about this. I think a valid alternative is to get more goals from set pieces. I think Riera does a decent job of getting into the middle when playing well and always gives the team good shape. I think we need players in the squad certainly if not the team whose primary job is to stretch teams. Unlike Pennant for example Riera does this and adds some threat on goal.