Liverpool FC Forum

[madred]

I thought id bring up this topic to see everyones opinions now on the lad. It seems to be mixed so far but in my opinion if the lad can produce performances more often like against Newcastle (1 goal, 1 assist and winning a penalty) what more could we ask for? In his first season at the club i think the lad has done well and it must have been difficult as he's never played for such a massive club in his career. I know he misses his fair share of chances but the boss believes in him and he can go on to greater things. Inconsistency has been the down side but can he sort this out for next season?

[The_Rock]

i might get slated for this...but do u think that crouch will get a game at chelsea, arsenal or the scums ? I don't think he would even start at spurs.....

Crouch is an average player....Maybe a good squad player to have...But he ain't 1st team material IMO...

[Flashard]

No because they play different.

[65-1140560321]

I'd buy craig bellamy in the summer. He's a good finisher, and proved it twice yeserday, can score in the prem, and is one of the reasons Blackburn are doing quite well.

Crouch, doesnt have consistency.

[The Ace1983]

Crouch was never gonna be a 20 a season striker, but if we had one they would make a great force. He's a creator, like a stretched out Garcia who can keep the ball and set others up. For him to net 10 a season would make me pleased if it weren't for the fact that we haven't got anyone else up front worth starting. If we had someone like Owen, Defoe or similar I'd play Crouch with them, take him off after 60 minutes and then throw Robbie into the mix.

[redmikey]

why does everyone always go for players that are doing well on match of the day,

bellamy,bent,yakubu,barton,bullard?

we need world class players that will improve our club, for most of his career bellamy has been a hateful little sh'ite that has caused problems in dressing rooms, mark hughes has got him playing well granted but he is not going to take us up a level in the league

[drummerphil]

I've said many times before, Crouch is a good player and in teams like Fulham,West Brom etc...he would be the clubs top player on his current form.Although i can clearly see what he gives to the team he in my opinion is not Liverpool class and never will be.
I'm not saying he isnt effective now and again because he is,but when you consider 70 per cent of his headers are like someone kicking a ball against a lamp post and he has little pace...A LIVERPOOL CENTRE FORWARD he is not.
The trouble is Cisse and Nando are so fecking useless that alot of people view Crouch with rose coloured glasses,because he is offering more than those two put together....

[JC_81]

Crouch was never bought by Benitez to be the main striker imo.  He was bought as the player to play in away games (like today) where he would hold the ball up and a player to throw on for the last 20 to offer something different if we were struggling to score.

2 things have changed this and have caused Benitez to play him a lot more than he had planned.  First of all missing out on Owen at the last minute last summer and then the poor form of Morientes all season (Benitez thought Nando would be the main man for us this season I think).

Crouch has had a good 1st season imo and I do believe that with an out-and-out goalscorer alongside him he'd look even better.

[RAGE UK]

Crouch was never bought by Benitez to be the main striker imo.  He was bought as the player to play in away games (like today) where he would hold the ball up and a player to throw on for the last 20 to offer something different if we were struggling to score.

2 things have changed this and have caused Benitez to play him a lot more than he had planned.  First of all missing out on Owen at the last minute last summer and then the poor form of Morientes all season (Benitez thought Nando would be the main man for us this season I think).

Crouch has had a good 1st season imo and I do believe that with an out-and-out goalscorer alongside him he'd look even better.

Yep spot on.
I to think crouch will come on leaps and bounds .

[ivor_the_injun]

Crouch is still young, is improving all the time, and is a class act.

It p*sses me off to hear people tearing into him because he's not great in the air. Yes, it's frustrating that he doesn't make more of the aerial advantage he has over a defender, but there is so, so much more to his game than that. He's got good strength, occupies attention by his presence alone, is a real handful in the box, but most important of all he occupies pretty sublime touch. I'd go so far as to say that he's among our best players with the ball on the deck, which given his height is pretty remarkable.

All this about him not being LFC material is absolute garbage. He has been integral to our progress this season, and those who see the plain-as-day evidence before them and refuse to acknowledge it simply have no idea what they're talking about.

Yes, he could be more consistent. Yes, he could score more goals. Yes, yes, yes, his timing of headers could improve immeasurably. Like it or not though, he's the only one of the strikers on our books right now that is absolutely guaranteed to still be at the club next season. Alongside Reina, Alonso and Sissoko, his signature was an inspired bit of business by Benitez. And next season I back him to be even better.

[Espionage]

We paid 7m for him and I know that that raised almost everyone's eye brows but I think that basically everyone has since eaten their words. In response to Crouch being a "Liverpool centre forward", how many players that cost 7m would you rather have? I am of the opinion that Rafa decided that instead of buying a striker in the 9-14m area (i.e world class, which is kinda what everyone wanted), he was bourght as a short term main striker that will definately still be an active part of the team when that world class striker comes (hopefully in the coming summer).
Crouch offers something different, and as like many role-players people that dont know very much about football tend to find it hard to quantify his output, what it is that he actually does for the side.
We have seen how good his vision, flicks and general passing is around the box. But we wont reap the full benefits of his talents until that other striker comes.

Fantastic game Crouchie!!!!!!!!

[akumaface]

Crouch is a striking option that is rare and far between. He is not the killer striker we are lacking. If we can find someone who is, that should let them to form a very good partnership. I'm sure Crouch would be even more useful that way.

[Ola Mr Benitez]

His career goal to game tally is just over 1 goal per 3 games, which for a second striker is pretty good.

He has scored 10 times since December.

If you ignore his now famous "wait for the first goal" his return in a Liverpool shirt has been fantastic.

As Liverpool fans we have been spoilt for strikers, St John, Toshack, Keegan, Rush, Aldridge, Fowler and Owen.  I don't think there is a team in Worl football that could boast the continuous, conveyor like, line of strikers we have had.  When did it go wrong??  When Houllier failed to bring in the next big thing? (Whoever that may have been).  I think Raffa will get it right, with a partnership that includes Peter Crouch.

[SouthCoastShankly]

Any liverpool fan with common sense can see that Crouch has had a good first season and that the 7m we paid looks like a good investment. Raa has shown that using Crouch in a role where he is a target man has worked. Our goal scoring problems this season have stemed from our other strikers who are expected to be fairly frequent goal scorers. Crouch won't be expected to score more than 15+ goals a season.

If anyone thinks he's inconsistent they should take a look at other players in the team first. Crouch has been consistent in the role he has been given and a success.

[bigmick]

His form does veer from the excellent to the very poor and I believe there are one or two things he can do to redress the problem. Firstly he needs to work on his physique. He's never going to be Schwartznegger but he needs to bulk up a little. This will enable him to be more aggressive which is a must if he is going to fulfill his potential IMHO. He needs to bully defenders more and to make himself more difficult to mark. He did it yesterday for the goal, getting in behind and on the shoulder of the full-back before muscling him out of it when Kromkamp's excellent cross came over. I also have to say if I'm honest that it was a desperate peice of defending by the young Newcastle full-back, firstly allowing Crouch to get wrong side and then not being strong enough to get onto the flight line of the ball and stay there. My suspicion is that if that is typical of his defending prowess, his future lies outside the top division of professional football.
The other thing he needs to do is to work on his movement a little. Niall Quinn wrote an excellent article which somebody posted up here in which he detailed areas Crouch should be looking to move into. I think he needs to work on that, and to work on not arriving in the box too soon. Too often he gets under the flight of the ball meaning defenders can jump into him and stop him getting any power in the header. The contrast was his header in the first couple of minutes yesterday where he got into the box too early, got jumped into by too defenders and headed tamely wide. Obviously for the goal he came from an area at the edge of the box, arrived at pace and was much more difficult to deal with because of it. The reason he was at the edge of the box though was because that was where the Newcastle back line was. He just needs to realise that it's not compulsary to allow the defenders to dictate where he stands.
Consistency comes from having a couple of facets to your game that are a constant. Roy Keane could be relied upon to put a couple of tackles in whatever happens, Steve Finnan is always tidy. Crouch needs to score more often and protect the ball better through more intelligent movement and more upper body strength/aggression. Then you'll get the consistency in my opinion.