Liverpool midfielder Dirk Kuyt has spent lots of time on the substitutes bench this season, and given the fact he hasn't scored a league goal in eight months now, it is, perhaps, easy to understand why. Having said that, Anfield Legend Mark Lawrenson doesn't believe that continually benching the Dutchman is the best solution.
Kuyt has been on the bench 13 times this season, and he's struggled to make a consistent impact for the club when he's been on the pitch. Still, Lawro believes he should be utilised more. He told the BBC:
"I am a bit surprised that Dirk Kuyt hasn't played that many games, especially when Suarez has been unavailable. Liverpool are a striker light in terms of somebody who can play off Suarez or someone who can play on his own up front when the Uruguayan is not around".
Kuyt played upfront on his own against Stoke recently, and that was hardly a resounding success, but if Liverpool are to play one upfront, I would choose Kuyt over Carroll, but this would only be effective if:
- Kuyt spends most of his time in and around the box. Against Stoke, he spent more time 20-30 yards away from goal than actually in the box.
- Players like Maxi, Bellamy, Gerrard, and to a lesser extent, Shelvey are also in the team backing him up. The following front five would be pretty tasty:
-------------------- Kuyt
------------------ Gerrard
Bellamy ---------- Shelvey ------------- Maxi
Lawro concluded:
"Regardless of Saturday's result, there will be a reaction tonight. Manchester City are the top team in the league and Anfield will be coliseum-like. Night games like this seem to cultivate a real spectacle at Anfield. Liverpool won't be hungry to win, they will be starving".
Jaimie Kanwar
Kuyt has been on the bench 13 times this season, and he's struggled to make a consistent impact for the club when he's been on the pitch. Still, Lawro believes he should be utilised more. He told the BBC:
"I am a bit surprised that Dirk Kuyt hasn't played that many games, especially when Suarez has been unavailable. Liverpool are a striker light in terms of somebody who can play off Suarez or someone who can play on his own up front when the Uruguayan is not around".
Kuyt played upfront on his own against Stoke recently, and that was hardly a resounding success, but if Liverpool are to play one upfront, I would choose Kuyt over Carroll, but this would only be effective if:
- Kuyt spends most of his time in and around the box. Against Stoke, he spent more time 20-30 yards away from goal than actually in the box.
- Players like Maxi, Bellamy, Gerrard, and to a lesser extent, Shelvey are also in the team backing him up. The following front five would be pretty tasty:
-------------------- Kuyt
------------------ Gerrard
Bellamy ---------- Shelvey ------------- Maxi
Lawro concluded:
"Regardless of Saturday's result, there will be a reaction tonight. Manchester City are the top team in the league and Anfield will be coliseum-like. Night games like this seem to cultivate a real spectacle at Anfield. Liverpool won't be hungry to win, they will be starving".
Jaimie Kanwar
He has probably forgotten how to play as a striker after all these years of being a makeshift polyfila wide player. Maybe a long run in the position again will see him do a better job of it, than he did against Stoke.
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to the Kuyt that made his debut a few years back? As with Carra Kuyt peaked in the year we came second. Their decline since then has been alarming. I would dip into the youth team before I played Kuyt in any position again. Same goes for Carra.
ReplyDeleteKuyt's time as a starter should be over. Not really good enough anymore.
ReplyDeleteI thought it's so easy to come on from the bench though?? That was the theory when Babel was supposed to prove how 'consistent' he was with his inconsistent playing time after all...
ReplyDelete