How good is Dirk (Paco style)?

[Paul]

It never fails to amaze me how much some people rate the likable Dutchman. So, on a scale of one to ten, with one being Josemi and ten being Kenny, how do you rate him?

 

(I know numbers are a very crass way to quantify a player's talent, but it's about the easiest way to gauge the forum view. See it as a sliding scale of LFC talent over the years, if that helps. Where would you place him on that scale?)

[Guest PaddyBerger15]

I went with 6...just above average, as thats all he is.

He is a likeable, honest, hard working guy, but no way is he a 10m 'striker'.

His work rate is excellent, we all know that, he can create for others at times, but if he was our main forward, which is quite conceivable given the dough we paid for him....most Premier League clubs can't afford that much dough on a front man...then he wouldn't give you the goals return you would want for that kind of outlay.

Had we paid 6m for him, then I would say we got a reasonable deal for a second striker. He isn't quite fast enough, he isn't clinical enough and he isn't skillful enough....hence the 6 rating.

[Cardie]

Dirk's really upset you hasn't he?!?!

[mudman79]

Always use chances taken to chances created ratio when assessing a centre forward with Rushie ( best in my time by a country mile ) as the yardstick . On that basis - hard working or not - he only rates a 6 with me .

[JER]

6 - Nice guy, good attitude, good link up play but just not clinical enough.

[CWD82]

Poor touch, no creativity, no goal threat.

 

As a striker he's rated as 4 by me but the work rate brings it up to 5.

 

I'm a Kuyt fan aswell but he's not the level we require to be starting. I'd keep him as a sub though

[sh#t waffle]

I voted 7, but I think I was partly influenced by the derby still being fresh in my mind. I fear that PaddyBerger is right, really. What confuses me though is what Dirk looked like in his first few games for us. Remember all the comments and articles on ho it looked like we had signed the new Mark Hughes? I remember thinking that £10m looked an absolute snip.

[Dirk]

Kuyt doesn't play prettily and he has major flaws to his game but to say he isn't a goal threat is incorrect. He's that bad, he was our top scorer in the Prem last season, he's also got 5 in all competitions, two less than Torres. It's possible he could score 20 goals all in, I'm not saying he will but he could. Perhaps using goals in all competition as a yardstick is only justifiable when its used to say Crouch was our top scorer last year. He is frustrating at times and he could be better, we could do better but lets be fair in any appraisal of him.

[Thants]

He's phenominal in terms of work rate and team play but when he gets the chance to put away a chance he misses more than not. In his role 7, a striker to depend upon to win you a match, a lot less.

 

But still the best we've got to play Rafa's style and partner Torres.

[Dirk]

He's phenominal in terms of work rate and team play but when he gets the chance to put away a chance he misses more than not. In his role 7, a striker to depend upon to win you a match, a lot less.

 

But still the best we've got to play Rafa's style and partner Torres.

 

That's pretty much how I see it.

[Paco]

I went with 6...just above average, as thats all he is.

He is a likeable, honest, hard working guy, but no way is he a 10m 'striker'.

His work rate is excellent, we all know that, he can create for others at times, but if he was our main forward, which is quite conceivable given the dough we paid for him....most Premier League clubs can't afford that much dough on a front man...then he wouldn't give you the goals return you would want for that kind of outlay.

Had we paid 6m for him, then I would say we got a reasonable deal for a second striker. He isn't quite fast enough, he isn't clinical enough and he isn't skillful enough....hence the 6 rating.

 

I'd agree with that. he doesn't take up the positions that would enable him to score more goals. dunno how he managed his record for Feyenoord.

[Paul]

For me, his technique is severely lacking for what we paid and also for him to be such a regular for Liverpool. That said, I do wonder what he'd be like if he played right up front and had great service from two top class wingers.

[Dirk]

I'd agree with that. he doesn't take up the positions that would enable him to score more goals. dunno how he managed his record for Feyenoord.

 

He's said in interviews that he likes to play in and around the penalty box and that he hoped that he would be allowed to do this whilst playing for Liverpool. It would seem he is under instructions to play so deeply.

[King Emlyn]

6, Idon't think i've ever wanted a player to succeed more, a more humble likeable footballer i would challenge anybody to find, unfotunately he's not good enough.

[Paul]

6, Idon't think i've ever wanted a player to succeed more, a more humble likeable footballer i would challenge anybody to find, unfotunately he's not good enough.

 

I agree up to the last point. I've just got this nagging doubt that, as Dave suggested above, the way he's been instructed to play has hampered his game.

[redfromtubebar]

I voted 6 but this time last season I probably would have gone with an 8. I think Dirk has regressed at the club over the past year.

 

He doesn't seem to give off the same confidence he had in himself during his initial appearances. From looking quite dynamic in attack, he has slowly become quite an average striker albeit with some admirable attributes. Worringly though, the goal threat has simply disappeared from his game.

 

Yes, he is playing deeper than he probably expected but whether that is due to instructions from Rafa or whether frustration creeps in and Dirk goes looking for the ball, who can tell. I simply see a striker who poses zero threat in the penalty box.

 

My own theory is that he simply doesn't have the natural ability to reguarly get the better of most premier league defences. I think his inability to reproduce what he achieved in Holland has affected his confidence and his all round play is suffering as a result.

 

I like Dirk though, its impossible not to admire his work rate and ethic. He seems like a good guy to have in the dressing room and as one of 4 strikers, I still think there is a place for him. I think we definitely overpaid though at £10m when compared to other strikers going for similar amounts at the time such as Berbatov and RVN.

[Dirk]

United paid £19 million for RVN and Berbatov scored a similar amount to Kuyt but possesses better technical ability, he's also got a suspect mentality.

[MLB]

I want to see him in the penalty box more. I don't think Rafa is using him right at all.

[redfromtubebar]

United paid £19 million for RVN and Berbatov scored a similar amount to Kuyt but possesses better technical ability, he's also got a suspect mentality.

 

 

Point taken but I was meaning what Real paid for RVN.

 

As for Berbatov, I agree that this season his attitude could be called into question and thats put a slight question mark over him but would anybody in their right mind not swap Kuyt for him if the offer was there?

 

He outscored him whilst playing for a much inferior side.

[Thants]

I wonder if the scores will go up if he helps us win today.

[hamstrung]

I went with 6. If the top mark is Kenny, I am reckoning a 7 or 8 has to be Owen or Beardsley's level.

[Paco]

United paid £19 million for RVN and Berbatov scored a similar amount to Kuyt but possesses better technical ability, he's also got a suspect mentality.

 

 

don't agree with that. I think his two greatest attributes are his work rate and mentality. he never really looks that frustrated that he doesn't score enough, he seems happy to do the job asked of him and Rafa is obviously happy with what he does because he's in the team more often than not.

[redfromtubebar]

I think Dirk is on about Berbatovs mentality, not Kuyts.

[Paul]

I wonder if the scores will go up if he helps us win today.

 

Almost certainly. The opposite is also true - but that's the nature of this forum. Most people make judgements based on the most recent thing they've seen or read.

[Rashid]

£10M for a striker who doesn't score much and has the first touch of Emile Heskey? In fact Heskey was more of a success and is a better player than Dirk Kuyt.

 

He work's hard is all we can say about him, I liken him to Alan Smith - a £5M player who would be a useful sub.

 

Edit: I am shocked some peope gave him a 7, if Kenny is a 10 then a 7 would be players like Steve Heighway, John Aldridge, Steve McManaman etc..... and Dirk Kuyt? Shocking.