The Soccer Blog: Rusty Kuyt is Rusty

Thursday, 9 December 2010

Rusty Kuyt is Rusty

By: Noel | December 9th, 2010

Since inevitably I’ll be yelled at no matter which side of any given argument I find myself on, let’s get one thing clear off the top: Dirk Kuyt is one of the best players in the world at what he does, and any trophy winning side needs a bit of graft sprinkled in amongst the glittering star power in order to be successful. He is also the sort of player whose qualities often go largely under-appreciated while some foolishly pine for a Ronaldinho type to come in and replace him, and he is the sort of player who will look better in a smoothly-functioning good team than a misfiring poor one where he is forced to work outside his skill-set in an attempt to make up for the lack of surrounding quality.

With all that said, even as Liverpool as a whole has looked considerably better over the last few league matches, Kuyt has looked terrible. I might have thought it hyperbolic to suggest he was having one of the worst runs of form in his Liverpool career, only then I saw a compilation of every touch he took in the first twenty minutes of last week’s Tottenham match. Take the children out of the room and maybe down a few shots of Pepto before hitting play, because it’s worse than you imagined:

Liverpool Player Analysis – Dirk Kuyt’s Poor Form V Spurs

And this wasn’t an isolated bad stretch, even if it was perhaps the worst individual period in a recent, noticeable dip in form. Still, as was gotten into before, there is every chance the problem is a lack fitness owing to injuries with the Dutch national side and being overplayed with Liverpool on the back of said injuries.

Long term, then, there may be some tough choices when it comes to squad selection due to an overabundance of attacking midfielders, but for this weekend at least, Kuyt’s apparent need for a little time off makes it easier to bring Gerrard back into the fold without having to worry about which on-form player needs to be shifted to the bench because of it. And when it comes to where to play him, well, if Meireles can play on the right because in Roy Hodgson’s own words we don’t play with wingers, then there’s no real reason Gerrard can’t play there, too. After all, the manager says it’s central role, and with Kuyt offering a convenient switch already there’s no real reason to fix what isn’t broken–and the rest of the squad, clearly, isn’t broken.

Except for Konchesky, of course.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:Four Weeks for Kuyt; Final Day of InternationalsDirk Kuyt Injured—Mondays Have Earned Their ReputationMasch Headed to Barca, Kuyt Staying, and Europa League DrawKuyt Injured, Court UpdateKuyt Going Nowhere and Final Uncertainty for Torres

Category: Miscellaneous

Tags: Causes of Alcoholism, Dirk Kuyt, Miscellaneous, Raúl Meireles, Squad Rotation, Steven Gerrard, Video Killed the Radio Star
« Carragher on Istanbul, Itandje Gone, and Other Wednesday Notes | Home | Blog Pollin’: Worst Official in the EPL Edition »steven.i cringe every time Kuyt gets a ball played to him with even a modicum of pace ..
his hard touch salts his game through and through ..

that being said, i still love me some Dirk.JakeOn an unrelated note, for anyone worried about NESV's willingness to spend cash, see the link below. They just signed two players to 7 year, $140+M contracts to the Red Sox. Both are good, relatively young players that will be cornerstones of the Red Sox for the better part of the next decade.

http://sports.espn.go.com/bost...steven.exactly what we need .. a past it player who spends more time at KFC then he does in the training ground....
let Stoke sign him.
steven.replied to the wrong comment.
DER.NoelYou also forgot the part about how he'd be on higher wages than Cole.steven.maybe they can open a franchise .. i can picture Ronaldinho with a Colonel Sanders 'stash ..INCABRUCEBtw for those who skim the internet on validity of these rumors. What is up with this Ronaldinho one?LFC4LIFEit's true.ROnaldinho is unfavoured at MIlan since the have Pato,ibrahamovic and robinho.i hope we can pay like 20 mil for himJoelHe'd go for more in the neighborhood of 8-10m- 30 years old, obviously past his best form, and 6 months left on contract. Taking a shot in the 8m bracket for him wouldn't be a bad move as he is still an impact player, but anything over that would be a waste of money.INCABRUCEThat would be something... He would surely fit in nicely in our midfield since we do not employ wingers! :DINCABRUCEDirk is a pure work horse and your right normally he does have a very soft touch to go with it. I don't want to watch that video but maybe the manager should put a returning J Cole in his slot.... although he didn't look too good either lately.

Go Maxi!........runs of form and the support players get for it is such a funny thing. But the fact is these men are professionals and it is their job- so if they are not performing then the bench may be a necessary.

YNWAMichellemincherwell my dirk kuyt played well on monday and what the hell do u mean he looked terrible, he was not worse on mondayEdI guess statistically you could make an argument that he wasn't "worse," but he was still objectively not good. From the Guardian Chalkboards:

v. Villa: 1 shot; 42 passes (29S, 13U); 3 interceptions; 7 tackles (2W, 5L)

v. Spurs: 1 shot; 49 passes (37S, 12U); 3 interceptions; 7 tackles (2W, 5L)

Can't go solely on statistics, especially with someone like Kuyt, but it's a tough sell saying he was actually good. Fewer passes completed, poor ratio of tackles won to lost and only one chance on goal in both matches.JoelThere's not a stat for killing attacking moves or holding the ball too long when receiving a pass, which would show how badly he is playing right now more than passing/tackles, IMO. When he gets a pass, he holds the ball far too long and our momentum is lost, which is the big difference between him now and him 08-09.EdYeah, I'm with you, was mostly just trying to figure out how he could be classified as "playing well." Certainly not statistically, and as you mention, there was plenty more to it.Jesse RaiI agree that the best fit for SG is RAM, he was unbelievable there for a whole season under RB, although i think if he does play there its just a short term fix.

and as an aside i thought Paul Konchesky's distribution against AV was dare i say it excellent.

thoughts?JoelMost of that was because he had 0 pressure on him because Lucas had Downing on lockdown.

Konchesky is still very very average and should not be a starter at Liverpool.PX54Well Cole's back now so it could be Cole and Maxi on the 'wings'JoelWould rather have Babel on the right than Cole- he's been pretty atrocious thus far.NoelYep, if Gerrard's not ready I'd rather see Babel given another shot. Would like to see Cole off the bench earlier if possible to hopefully improve, though, in any case.AlanclloydHe was even worse on Monday nightMichellemincherhey dirk kuyt wasnt worse on monday at allGrubbHe was equivalent - probably not a good thing. Gerrard needs to be played on the right, at least until Dirk catches up with himself.blog comments powered by Disqus