Deserved Recognition!

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When players give more than their shift, when they show they want to be part of LFC and when they wear the Liver Bird crest with pride, than there is nothing more deserved than a vote of confidence in rewarding that particular player with a contract extension. Dirk Kuyt has been a Liverpool player since the summer of 2006 (part of Rafa’s inheritance) and now a few months short of his 31st birthday, has agreed a one-year extension to his present contract which will see him wear the Liverpool shirt till at least 2013.

Many things have been said about this tireless Dutchman! Highly regarded for his generous work-rate in each game he plays, he has also been criticized at times for this infamous ‘first touch’ and his at times dubious passing, which on many occasions made fans all over do ballistic. However, it was without a shadow of a doubt one of the best ‘buys’ by LFC of the last decade, hands down. I might be wrong, but I have the impression he has been the most utilized player in a Liverpool shirt since his arrival, perhaps bar Reina.

Brought in as a striker but mostly used out wide on the right, the Dutchman has managed to notch up 61 goals in 235 appearances, and I feel confident enough to say (without any statistic in hand) that he made at least three times that amount in goal assists in the same number of appearances. He may not be the rapid wide winger Liverpool may be looking for to add width, but his versatility and more importantly his passion for the Club makes him such an important asset, that the Club have awarded him and extension and possibly an improved contract.

On a personal level and as a fan I wish to congratulate the Club on yet another move in the right direction and also thank Dirk for hanging on in their even when times were not so good. He is one of those that have realized that the times ahead are all pointed towards a positive direction. A truly hardworking and loyal professional!

Damien, Pepe Reina up next please!!!!!!!

24 Comments

  1. Dead on Tonio. Love me some Kuyt and his contribution has been immense whether its goals, assists (agreed there are MANY…Torres set a record with many of them), slowing the counter by defending up front or just breaking up plays and cutting off passing lanes with his tireless effort, he deserves the respect of all LFC supporters. It amazes me that anyone would complain about the first touch (which is just fine many times but now under the microscope)and rate him on this alone. It tells me that they are one dimensional viewers who are missing the multi-dimensional player he is. You can’t possibly quantify his contribution in all of these areas so it makes it more difficult perhaps but to simply say he doesn’t score enough and should move on is to say you don’t know the game. We need this guy to help make others play better and to get those important goals he knotches…and there have been many! YNWA Dirk

  2. God bless you Dirk and I cannot ask anymore from you but thank you. We all want the best 4 Lfc and not just your football but your character and persona make you invaluable. Long may you put on the red shirt

  3. do check all torres goal for lfc… kuyt did contribute certain number of assist to torres… torres will always miss kuyt…

  4. If there is an internal cog in the Liverpool machine without which it seems off, it would be Dirk. The man is a MACHINE!! He is the often unheralded member in the midst of stars in both, the Liverpool and Dutch outfits. But the men who matter, Van Marwijk and Kenny, notice him and reward him. If there is one topic among the million possible in the last few months that I would want to write about for EOTK, it would be Dirk’s contribution to the team and how,no matter who we purchase in the summer, Dirk will always start in my Liverpool team.

  5. It was a big mistake giving Kuyt this contract on the same weekly wage as his good performances are becoming fewer and fewer. 9 goals from 50 goal attempts this season is a poor return. If Kuyt really cared about LFC he would retire from international football because at his age he will not be able to continue to do both. Why should Reina get an improved contract just because he is going to have to pay more tax from this April? Gerrard should also retire from international football as it is a disgrace if he is going to spend the majority of next season out injured again and still get paid 7.8 million a season. Kuyt was crap against West Brom after being away with Holland for 2 games against Hungary.

    1. @ Kenny! Kenny you are absolutely unbelievable! I really don’t know what to say (write).

  6. I really can’t either Tonio…I’m at a loss! I wouldn’t even know where to get the 9 in 50 stat…I prefer to watch the games! There is always one in a crowd I guess

    1. @ Erik! Kenny has a right to his opinion. The fact is that he is so negative at times its overwhelming. I mean when you weigh things up surely one must judge the signing of Dirk Kuyt as a positive signing. If anything, he gives in more than his share, puts in a tough shift, and is rarely (fingers and balls crossed) rarely injured. He may have his weaknesses like every player out there, but I retiterate that for me he has been one of the best signings in the last decade.

  7. Tonjo: You call Kuyt a positive signing but have you noticed that the club has not won anything since he came to the club. You mention his goals per games statistics but this is the same guy who has missed a seemingly endless amount of clearcut chances in each season he has been at the club. To many games go by each season where Kuyt fails to score goals, he starts of each season with a few goals and then during the winter months tends to forget about scoring goals and then just to make his stats look somewhat presentable he contributes a few more goals from March to May. This excuse that Kuyt should be excused because he is classed as a winger is weak because he spends most of every game cutting inside into the penalty area, he rarely beats a fullback on the outside.

    1. @ Kenny! Why, did Torres convert all his chances to goals? Since you are a man of statistics, can you kindly tell me how many times Kuyt has been deployed as a striker with the Reds? And I mean pure striker No.9 old-style! If the Club has not won anything it is not his fault and you/we all know it. How the bloody hell can anyone blame a player for the Club not winning titles? And you are right about his winger attitude because he is NOT a winger. He is a striker, a goal area poacher! Why is Maxi a winger for you? Do we have other alternatives at this present time? Kenny I understand one is disappointed but you cannot shoot everyone in your sights bud!

  8. Here Here Tonio. I know we all are allowed our opinions no matter how off the wall I think they are…which is why I was nice! On another site I may have taken it a little too personally…at least he is a supporter! Thankfully the owners and the King see it our way. Now…lets do the gunners and meet back here tomorrow! great weekend to all reds!

  9. In response to erik, Kuyt was extremely poor against Blackpool,West Ham,West Brom and Wigan. It was a shame that the club dropped 11 points in these games. It meant that Champions League football would not be secured for next season.

    1. @ Kenny! The whole Liverpool squad was poor against Blackpool/West Ham & Brom and Wigan bar none! He was superd against Man Utd and Man City to mention two that come to mind! I thought that you were one of those that same CL football was impossible for the Reds even before West Brom and Wigan! Am I right or wrong? Anyway, no point taking up a discussion with you bud….gets me nowhere! LOL

  10. Tonjo: From what you are saying Kuyt doesn’t need to perform in the games against teams not in the top 5. Unfortunately under that criteria the club would be bottom of the table. I was one of the few fans that said back in January that champions league football was still attainable for next season if Dalglish and the players focussed on winning the 18 league games to May 22. Fixture congestion could not be used as an excuse as the club was out of the domestic cups and the Europa League should not have been bothered with. This is an extremely poor league but yet thanks to the likes of Kuyt only performing in the high profile games and turning up his nose at the unfashionable games the club’s chance of Champions League football for next season were thrown away. Fans need to realise that higher standards need to be expected of senior players like Kuyt, Gerrard and Reina, these players know the majority of the fans have such low ambitions for the club these days that they only need to put in a proper performance in the high profile games and can use the lame excuse about a socalled competitive league when they lose to crap like Blackpool,West Ham,West Brom and draw with the likes of Wigan. Heck even Aston Villa beat West Ham today and Wigan beat Blackpool. A cost benefit analysis of the return Kuyt gives to the club weighed against the extravagant wages he is paid would make for a very unfavourable analysis.

  11. kuyt’s been phenominal, his work ethics and intelligence wont be replaced… i think he will stay a while longer in this club, so we only need a quality Left winger to complete the squad… (hazard/Adam Johnson or someone of the same calliber will be enough)
    and Kjaer will be gud for the future.. :D

    above all the future is bright for reds!!
    YNWA

  12. Anyway, me and my friends call him RoboKuyt. He’s a machine and looks like one when he runs!
    True passion, energy and effort.
    Great news. Great player.
    Ynwa!

  13. How many other players score as many goals as dirk does playing mostly as a winger? Young? Malouda? Downing? Lennon? Bale? Nani? By the way he can put in a shift second to none.(and you well deserved your hat-trick against utd!!)

  14. Just because whinging morons are entitled to their opinions doesnt mean we want to hear them…

    @Kenny – you must be an american because you know absolutely ZERO about football, Liverpool FC or the contribution one player gives over another…

    You are too stupid for words!

  15. In response to Mark, I am not American. I have been a LFC fan since the FA Cup final of 1977 when LFC lost 2-1 to United. I have seen some of the best LFC teams and players and some of the worst LFC teams and players. This lauding of Kuyt is ridiculous. Closer analysis of his performances would show that the poor performances especially this season and last far outnumber the good ones. Where is Kuyt’s committment to LFC, Giggs and Scholes have retired from international football in order to keep their club careers going but yet Kuyt was rubbish for example at home to Wigan after a midweek international and equally insipid away to West Brom after 2 games for Holland against Hungary the last of which was played on the previous Tuesday night. I find it extraodinary that socalled fans of LFC find it exceptable that players like Kuyt can pick and choose the games he feels like performing in. Just as the socalled fans thumb their noses up at games against the likes of Blackpool,West Ham,West Brom and Wigan so do the players like Kuyt. It is no wonder with this mentality that the club has not won the League since 1990. The unfashionable games against the other 14 teams in the Premier League add up to 84 points a season, that points total would go a long way towards the TITLE every season. Of course winning the big games creates a great adrenalin rush but the 28 smaller games are just as important. Players like Kuyt and Gerrard at their ages should be told by Comolli and Dalglish that an allout assault on the title is going to happen next season but that these 2 are required by the club to retire from internationals because the club cannot afford anymore to drop points in the games that occur after international breaks.

  16. In response to Tonjo and Morph1: Kuyt spends more time in the opposition penalty area than he spends out on the wing because this is the role he is allowed by Liverpool. So the argument that his goal return is excellent does not stack up. Every season he has been at the club, he has missed numerous giltedged goalscoring chances that have cost the club games and points. Your argument Tonjo that he has not been deployed as a No.9 much is weak as Kuyt as I said above by his role with the team is allowed to make runs into the opposition penalty area in any game he plays. Tonjo: how would you explain the extraodinary goalscoring prowess of Frank Lampard in his years with Chelsea, has he ever played as a No.9. Do you remember the season Tonjo that John Wark scored 29 goals from midfield for Liverpool?

    1. @ Kenny! A final response to you friend and I will close this chapter. I feel you are again a lone wolf in your arguments. Evidently you are seeing things the rest of as are not, or perhaps more so you are looking for the needle in the haystack. You comparative example with Frank Lampard is not sustainable, simply because Lampard has more often than not played just behind the strikers in a role very similar to what Meireles is doing at present for us. We have all seen that in the last two games when Meireles was ‘scarificed’ out wide his scoring opportunities dwindled and in fact he has not scored.
      I feel rewarding the Dutchman with a one year contract extention after 5 seasons at the Club where again I repeat he has played most games bar Reina is justified. I did not say his goal return is excellent, I just said that for a player that has played out wide for most games it’s not a bad tally, which is different! More time in the penalty area you say? Only from self initiative my friend and because he does have a knack for goal!
      Over and out on this one!

  17. Tonjo; the 4-2-3-1 system gave Kuyt the licence to get into the penalty area. Your argument about Lampard therefore holds no weight because Kuyt in this system plays in the 3 behind the striker pushing in to allow the fullbacks to get further. I notice you could not rebut the John Wark statistic.

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