Tom Oldfield


Dirk Kuyt has won the hearts of most Liverpool fans since joining the club from Feyenoord in 2006. While his goal-scoring record fails to do him justice, the Dutchman’s work-rate and all-round skills make him a key component in the Anfield set-up.
 
Similarly, Kuyt is a vital member of the Dutch national team and will no doubt be heavily involved when the 2010 World Cup kicks off in South Africa. It seems that every manager who works with the striker has nothing but praise for the way he conducts himself on and off the pitch, yet he remains a rather unsung hero, turning in displays that are brimming with commitment and hunger but somehow slip under the radar.
 
Rafael Benitez brought Kuyt to Anfield for around £10M, primarily as a striker. With Fernando Torres not yet on the scene, he found himself competing with Peter Crouch, Robbie Fowler and Andriy Voronin for a starting role. Before long, Kuyt was winning everyone over.
 
After opening his Liverpool account against Newcastle, the Dutchman enjoyed a string of special moments during the 2006/07 campaign. His double sunk Reading in November while his opener against Chelsea in the New Year set the Reds on the way to a deserved victory that dented the Blues’ title push.
 
But he came into his own in the Champions League, a competition that has brought real joy to the Dutchman. In the semi-final shootout against Chelsea, Kuyt kept a cool head to slot home the winning penalty and send his side into the final. Unfortunately for him, AC Milan outlasted Liverpool 2-1 in the showpiece final in Athens but Kuyt popped up with the Reds’ late consolation goal that night.
 
Though Kuyt has since shifted to a wide role, he was hardly a prolific scorer even in his early years at Anfield. That is not to say that he does not grab important strikes, however. In fact, Kuyt has tended to reserve his very best displays for the big stage. The 2007/08 season illustrated this perfectly as the Dutchman showed his ruthless streak in a number of pressure situations.
 
Again, he was a priceless presence for the Reds in the Champions League as the club chased another appearance in the final. Kuyt and his colleagues came up short though in their semi-final with Chelsea but not before the striker had netted vital goals against Arsenal at the Emirates in the last eight and the Blues in the semi-final first-leg at Anfield.
 
And Kuyt was not done just yet. At Euro 2008 he and his Dutch team-mates blitzed through the group stage, humbling Italy and France – time to shed the underachievers tag, proclaimed the pundits. Kuyt was at the heart of many of the team’s best moments, crafting the second goal against Italy and then opening the scoring against the French with a header. However, it was an all too familiar story in the quarter-finals as Holland were outclassed by Guus Hiddink’s Russians.
 
The summer experience ensured that the Dutchman, though disappointed, was fired up for the new campaign and Liverpool were determined to end their elusive hunt for a first Premier League title. The Reds kept pace with champions Manchester United for large chunks of the season, in no small part thanks to Kuyt’s knack of scoring late goals. With Steven Gerrard and Torres stealing most of the headlines, the Dutchman’s 15 goals went relatively unnoticed. However, Liverpool ultimately fell four points short as United lifted the trophy.
 
Benitez tinkered slightly with the squad over the summer and felt his players were equipped for the challenges ahead, both domestically and in Europe. But things have not gone to plan thus far, leaving the team adrift domestically and Kuyt as an increasingly frustrated figure.
 
Arguably, at the moment he is Liverpool’s most reliable player, with Gerrard and Torres hampered by injury and Jamie Carragher somewhat out of sorts. The Dutchman has made the right wing position his own with accurate service and clever movement but he remains equally effective through the middle – a role he still fills when the Reds are chasing the game or Torres is injured. A playing style based on giving 100 per cent and mastering the fundamentals leads to few poor performances, making Kuyt a real favourite with his manager. When Benitez picks the 29-year-old in the starting line-up, as he so often does, he knows exactly what he will be getting. Unfortunately, it seems the Reds boss cannot say the same for all of his squad.
 
With Liverpool currently struggling to keep pace with the leaders and lurching from one disappointment to the next, Benitez needs Kuyt to keep producing the goods. If the Dutchman continues to put in his customary whole-hearted performances and his team-mates follow his lead, the Reds will give themselves a chance of clawing their way back up the table.

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