Dirk Kuyt: Tonight could be the turning point for me
Jan 30 2008 by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo
IF Dirk Kuyt was to hand pick a Premier League club against whom to begin his own renaissance he could do a lot worse than West Ham.
Last season, the Dutchman enjoyed a memorable debut against the Londoners and also scored one of his finest Liverpool goals to date in the return fixture at Upton Park.
Tonight, Kuyt is hoping the sight of those famous claret and blue shirts will again be enough to bring out the best in him.
“I have a lot of good memories of West Ham,” he said. “And I am hoping that tonight’s game will produce some more.
“When I made my debut last season it was against West Ham and that was a really special occasion for me.
“It was great because it was at Anfield and we won 2-1 so it was almost perfect.
“I can remember coming on for Crouchy who had already scored and just wanting to make a good impression and show the fans what I could do.”
Kuyt certainly did that with a 35 minute cameo in which he adopted a shoot on sight policy which left Anfield enthralled.
He may not have scored that day but when the two teams met again the following January the former Feyenoord man got his name on the scoresheet with his most memorable strike in a red shirt thus far.
“I really enjoyed that goal,” he recalls. “It was definitely one of my best for Liverpool.
“It was funny because the first half was probably my worst first half for the club and nothing would go right for me.
“I went into the dressing room at half-time and I was determined to come out and work harder and do better for the team because I was really unhappy with the way I had played.
“We kicked off the second half and just ten seconds later I’d scored with a shot from outside the box which went in off the crossbar.”
Just as was the case during that opening 45 minutes, the first half of this season has not gone as well as he would have liked as he has struggled for goals and found himself in and out of Rafa Benitez’s starting eleven.
He has also had to cope with the death of his father, Dirk senior, who lost his brave battle with cancer last June.
Kuyt readily admits that his second season in English football has not lived up to his own expectations but he feels it is now only a matter of time before he hits the goal trail again.
He said: “I am not happy with the way things have gone so far this season but I can feel my form coming back so hopefully tonight will be the turning point for me.
“It has been hard for me for a few reasons and I don’t think I have been at my usual level mentally as much as anything.
“I have found it hard going on without my dad because he was my biggest supporter in football but I have to do that.
“It has also been difficult being in and out of the team because when I was at Feyenoord I played 275 games in a row so it takes time to get used to not playing every single week.
“But the manager has told us that if we want to be winning games and challenging for trophies we can’t play with just the same 11 players every week and I agree with that.
“My job is to make sure I work hard in training so it becomes more difficult to leave me out and over the last couple of weeks I have felt that my form is coming back.
“I want to get back into the team and start scoring goals again because I still believe I have a lot more to offer than I even showed last season and hopefully it will come tonight.”
One thing Kuyt can guarantee is that Liverpool are in for a tough test when they take on the Hammers – but it is the type of test he feels they must start passing regularly if they are to take up their usual place in the Premier League’s top four.
“West Ham is always a difficult place to win because they are a good team and their fans are very passionate,” he said.
“But we have dropped too many points in the league lately and we have to start winning games so we can go higher in the league.
“If we get three points tonight it will be very important and it will hopefully be the start of a good run in the league for us.”
tonybarrett@liverpoolecho.co.uk
