The Forgotten Man Of Anfield

                                       The Forgotten Man Of Anfield

Dirk Kuyt has been such a big player for Liverpool in recent years, with his tireless work rate and his knack of scoring vital goals in big matches, he really has been so important to Liverpool. But this season he has struggled to get a game. Obviously there were going to be changes to the team this season with the amount of summer signings, and Kuyt has suffered more than most because of this.

Kuyt has mostly been used on the right side of midfield in recent years and with Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson arriving in big money buys, then Kuyt has had to make way for them. Henderson has played a lot of matches on the right side of midfield this season, but in recent games Downing has featured on the right, although he is a left footed player.

Dirk Kuyt can also play up front, as he was signed as a striker in the first place, but Liverpool have preferred to use him on the right of midfield. Kuyt has played a few games up front this season but with the likes of Carroll, Suarez and Bellamy, he has been used sparingly.

Kuyt finished last season as Liverpool’s top goal scorer and he must have felt that he would continue as one the team’s most important players. But unfortunately he has struggled to feature. Kuyt is now 31 years of age and he must be wondering what his future holds as he is finding himself not a regular for the first time in his Liverpool career.

Although Kuyt had a terrific season last season, I worried that he might find it difficult to feature this season because of the new signings. But as the season has rolled on, I think Kenny should bring him back in to the team. With Andy Carroll struggling for form and Luis Suarez still suspended I think Kenny should be playing Kuyt up front alongside Craig Bellamy right now, and even when Suarez comes back from suspension I would put Kuyt on the right side of midfield and shift Downing back over to the left of midfield, where I think Downing has looked at his best linking up with Enrique. I prefer Henderson playing in the middle as I have not been too impressed with him on the right.

I am not touting Kuyt as the best player in the world and he does have his weaknesses, like his passing and his first touch can be poor at times, but I just feel he brings so much energy to the team and inspires other players to work harder too.

But Kenny is the man who makes the decisions and it is far more difficult for him to select his team this season as his squad is certainly stronger and you can’t play everyone. But I can’t understand why Kuyt with all his experience is the man to be left out. It really is looking like Kuyt is the forgotten man of Anfield as Dalglish looks to build his own team. I hope Kenny appreciates Kuyt in the remainder of the season.