Liverpool FC Forum

[drummerphil]

I find Peter Crouch the most irritating sight in a red shirt.I agree though through his awkwardness and lanky streak of píssness he can change a game,sometimes i think without him realising how hes done it.For someone so tall i think hes terrible in the air and from a standing start he forever gets out jumped by players 5ft 8 etc.
So what does he give to the team,quite simply the unexpected.We all know what a player of his height/build should give but more often than not neither Peter himself or us fans quite know what it is.

[XSD]

It's said strikers rely on confidence and when they are scoring they keep scoring. Crouch's confidence at the moment in through the roof you can be sure, he's scored against Chelsea and Haifa, he's also been banging them in at an alarming rate for England, including a world cup goal.
A striker high on confidence and scoring regularly is the most valuable asset you can have, so yes he is undroppable.
Also isn't it ironic we are now relying on Peter Crouch as our main goal threat after his famed 24 hour drought last season.

[adamnbarrett]

through his awkwardness and lanky streak of píssness

[drummerphil]

through his awkwardness and lanky streak of píssness

tell me it isnt true 

[Lando_Griffin]

You're quite right on that score, Phil!!!!

[Espionage]

I think that Crouch and Kuyt will work, but only if we go wide almost all the time, that means long balls for Gonzalez and Pennant to run onto, we have the passing ability to pull this off and wingers to supply the crosses.  We will struggle if we just play long balls to Crouch and the defense plays a high line.

I am of the opinion that Bellamy/Crouch/Kuyt will play every game, with one of them getting subbed for the one that starts on the bench at around 60 minute mark.  Rafa never used to play Crouch for 90, he would always sub him even if he was playing well.
So depending on who we are playing, they will be changed around.  Rafa will want to keep all of them match fit, to increase competition and protection against injuries....

[Sabre]

He is not undropable, nobody is, Alonso neither.

But that said, he is showing with his current good form that he does a lot of more than holding the ball and team work. He is a striker. Last year he had a drought of goals, but this is how striker thingy works, they have their good runs and their droughts. Let's remember this credit he's earning when he has two games without scoring, that's the time in which he'll need our support. I'm happy that he's scoring.

[tubby]

Hes a player who plays on confidence. 4 goals so far for club and country will surely spur him on. However he is not undropable and is not immune to rotation.

[66-1120597113]

I would'nt say he was undroppable,but i will go as far to say that he should play some part in every game!Be it from kick off or being brought on to change things in the last 20 mins or so.

Im a big fan of Crouch and have been from the start.
Its hard to say what Raffa will decide on his best 2 forwards,but i would not be surprised if Crouch and Kuyt played a lot of games together this season as they are 2 totally different players!
I think they'd do well together.Last night Crouch played Garcia in with cross goal headers and knockdowns quite a few times only to be beaten by the keeper.People may say great save...id say the ball was straight at the keeper and reflex done the rest!
Alongside Crouch and feeding off knockdowns Kuyt would be a lot more prolific than any other option we have...his record says so and he's a natural finisher more so than any of our other strikers!!

[SouthCoastShankly]

I feel that Rafa wants to build a team that is pretty much interchangeable in any position. Which would explain why even our strongest players are being dropped/rotated.

The only problem with this is that there are players like Gerrard and Crouch who can offer influence to the team that no others can. Saying this I feel that it really is only Gerrard who can be classed as 'undroppable' as he is the only one who has proved this to date. Crouch has massive influence but the fact of the matter is that with the right formation we can win without him against certain teams.

If I were to list who I thinkour most influencial players are, my top 5 would look like:

1 - Gerrard
2 - Crouch
3 - Sissoko
4 - Carragher
5 - Reina

[stmichael]

I thought he had a really good game last night. Fans must be blind if they can't see how much we missed him on Saturday against Sheffield United because we had no target to work off upfront.

Crouch definitely has his faults, however he gets judged solely on those faults by too many people imo. I've defended the guy since day one but not blindly. I've never said he's perfect and he's still open to criticism. However if you look at it, since he opened his account against Wigan last season, he's gone on to score 23 goals for club and country, which is a decent return in anyone's book.

As for Rafa's comments, remember he tends to criticise those who are doing well, to keep them from getting over-confident, rather than those who don't do well, who he'll talk-up for the sake of not doing further damage to their confidence. He spent last season defending Morientes, and never criticised him; but promptly sold him. So I don't think you can read too much into everything Rafa says publicly. He's also said of all strikers that if they work hard and create goals, that's fine by him - he simply wants to win matches, no matter who scores.

But it's also true that he wants *all* players to improve. No player can rest on his laurels.

One more thing. I don't think Kuyt really offers that much that Crouch already does. I don't think they are *that* similar. From what I've seen, Kuyt is smaller, stronger, sharper in the box but with less ability on the ball; while he might be a better header of the ball, he's not going to win as much in the air at just 6ft. They both work hard, and both hold the ball up, but Crouch still has a lot to offer that Kuyt can't duplicate, and vice versa.

[taff]

He does add a lot to the team but please stop dribbling pass and get into position

[redmikey]

if we could just send crouc to the usa so they could implant some muscles in ih legs so he could jump and neck so it didn't make it look like he has a sponge neck he would be outstanding.. i like crouch and his attitude to the team and the game as a whole like every one else on here he annoys me as much as luis but he is invaluble at the minute,

i agree with bigmich i think rafa has bought koot/kite/kyte as a all singing all dancin version of crouch aplayer that can be selfish enough to go for goal as well as hold the play up but i would rather have crouch until the white emile proves me wrong... i base that solely on his world cup and the one or two games i have seen him play in on ch5

[CardinalRed]

He should be used in some capacity in every game this season whether as a starter or off the bench, in away games I'd have him start every time....


                                                                       

[spion]

He was brilliant last night in the champ league, running everywhere & tracking back. The signing of Kuyt sertainlly seems to have stoked a fire under his behind. This is the reason that Rafa wants a big squad. Even with the recent spate of injuries we still have a good team left fit & raring to go. Dirk looks to be starting on Saturday alonside Bellamy but with Rafa that will be one week & who know next?