vs 
It appears that following our 8-0 drubbing of Beşiktaş, the player that has gained the most points in the fans' approval ratings polls has been Peter Crouch. In my opinion, there were at least five other players on the pitch that night who were bigger contributors to our cause and that's not including either Steven Gerrard or Ryan Babel.
Most of those who are exalting Crouch's performance to delusional proportions appear to be the same people who kept complaining about his seemingly constant exclusion from the side in previous matches. Of course, none of them will admit that the England International has played a part now in five straight matches. Starting or not, if he doesn't take advantage of the time alloted him, when will he?
Crying over not getting the start when opportunity is clearly given, especially when afforded time when your opponents' energy levels have been somewhat depleted is irrational. A team player contributes to the whole no matter the circumstance and I, for one, would not be surprised if such a notion is not part of Crouch's character. His whining to the press in the past are a clear indication of that.
At the other end of the spectrum is Dirk Kuyt. Other than the Turkish side, the Dutch International seems to be the second biggest loser from Tuesday's Champions League clash. Coming off the match at Blackburn, where Kuyt clearly was not his best, the worse thing to happen would for an explosion of goals to occur with the second-year striker in the stands.
I'll be the first to admit that Kuyt has been in poor form so far this year, but Crouch has as well, and one match a season doesn't make. How quickly has everyone forgotten about the Marseille match where if Crouch had gotten a red card in the first ten seconds, we would have probably had a better chance of winning. The lanky striker was so horrid that one could easily make an argument that he was throwing the match.
In fact, since both strikers got a chance to take the pitch, let's take a closer look at their performances in the Marseille match, one I consider to be the worse home loss in Liverpool history. Crouch played 75 minutes before being subbed off for Kuyt. Now guess which of the two took a shot? Crouch, who played nearly 80% of the match, or Kuyt who was on for only about 20%? If you guessed the former, you're wrong. Crouch failed to take a single shot, not a shot-on-goal mind you, but an attempt in general, not even a half-assed, ten-feet off the mark crack at the net.
Comparing these two is not easy because they have such different styles. Crouch's strength is obviously his height. Outside of the box, he best uses the attribute to set-up others, while inside the box, other than scoring goals with his head, he puts it to use to create space for his teammates. Kuyt is more of a 'utility' forward, utilizing his passing abilities to set up others and his movement off the ball to create space.
Before I get into the statistical comparison of the two players, I just want to say that though neither player will be at their respective countries' Olympic trials for the 100m dash ever, Kuyt clearly has more pace than Crouch. A blind man listening to the rate of their footsteps could tell you that. Now for the bread and butter.
What do you look for in a second striker? Probably the penultimate player at the position is Wayne Rooney. Last Premiership season, he was second in assists and goals for Man U with 14 and 11 respectively, he's goal/attempt percentage was 31%, and he had a pass completion rate of 72.8%. He's also a decent defender at that spot with 30 tackles at a 78.9% success rate, 9 interceptions, and 47 fouls committed. Now that's quality.
Let's look at Crouch and Kuyt's total Premiership stats, last season and this season combined. First, Crouch has played in 36 matches, 17 as a substitute, with an average of 43.7 minutes per match. His minutes are irrelevant though and actually comes back to bite him, but I'll get to that later. He has scored 9 goals, assisted on 6 others, his goal/attempt percentage is 23.1%, and his pass completion rate is 67.3%. His defensive stats are: 10 tackles at a 71.4% success rate, 5 interceptions, and 42 fouls.
Kuyt's Premiership combined stats are: 43 matches played, 34 as a starter, 9 off the bench, with an average of 76.4 minutes per outing. He has scored 14 goals, assisted on four others, his goal/attempt percentage is 35.9%, and his pass completion rate is 71.2%. Finally, his defensive stats are: 41 tackles at a 70.7% success rate, 15 interceptions, and 64 fouls.
So what does this conclude? Well, that Kuyt is clearly the superior all-round player, something which should be required from a second striker. Crouch takes nearly twice as many shots per ninety minutes and is far less efficient at putting them in the net. He also commits way too many fouls for the significantly less time he is on the pitch than Kuyt. Every time he misses a shot or commits a foul, he gives the opposition possession of the ball, allowing them the opportunity to score.
Kuyt is the better passer and can provide some defensive help while Crouch is best suited to leave that side of the pitch alone. In fact, I make no qualms in saying Crouch is a defensive liability. I don't mean to put down Crouch, but anyone who thinks he's better suited to line-up beside Torres, you're wrong. Voronin maybe, but if both Kuyt and the Ukrainian are at the top of their game, I'll take Dirk most of the time.
The thing that bothers me most about Crouch is when he sits near the middle of the field waiting for someone to serve him the ball so he can head it forward to Gerrard or Babel or whomever is screeching down the field. That's the thing, without someone there to service Crouch, he's useless at the spot. I'd much rather see him further down the field, which opens up space over the middle for Gerrard. All I'm really saying is that Crouch is best suited near or in the box, while Kuyt is the better second striker.
No comments:
Post a Comment