The Forgotten Man

The Forgotten Man


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, 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. With Andy Carroll starting to find some form and Luis Suarez coming back from suspension I think Kuyt will struggle to get a game again, which will be really tough for him considering he has played really well in the last couple of games and scored two goals in his last two games . I prefer Henderson playing in the middle as I have not been too impressed with him on the right. But Kenny has so many options now and Kuyt has been the odd man out most of the time this season.


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. He has a great knack of scoring important goals in the big games which he proved recently against Manchester United.


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. Kuyt is not at the stage of his career where he will want to be sitting warming the bench.

I hope Kenny uses Kuyt against Chelsea in the FA Cup Final because the Dutchman has a great knack of score in the big matches.