Our toothless strikeforce

[premania]

If we look at Man u, Arsenal and Chelsea or even Spurs and Newcastle they have better strikeforce than ours. I was excited with the arrival of Kuyt after watching him in Youtube. Oh God, was he really good or he has lost his touches after playing for us? As a striker sad to say Kuyt was not threatening at all. No proper first touch and worse passing skills. Whats your problem Dirk? Even Sunderland's Jones is more threatening than you. Talk about hardwork, he has it all too.

 

Enough of having this so called hardworking strikers please, i will be happy if we were to have a lazy striker (Ronaldo) but knows where the net is. Who cares where he runs or where he stands, what matters most is the goals. Strikers are meant for goals, let the hardworking runs and passing handle by the midfielders. Our strikers just for f***in sake position yourself and get the goals in.

 

Rafa, why Voronin? For free transfer even a Hasselbaink will do the job for us. At least he provides a threat upfront.

 

As for Peter Crouch, he is the most dependable among the Kuyt and Voro. He scores goals and he should play. No excuse or stupid reasons for that. Yes he is not the best of the strikers to play for us but he is here so he should be given the striking role.

 

Thank you Rafa for another boring season (:

[John am Rhein]

i will be happy if we were to have a lazy striker (Ronaldo) but knows where the net is. Who cares where he runs or where he stands, what matters most is the goals.

 

Do you think maybe, there could be a downside to that?

 

And who is this mythical striker anyway?

[bazz]

If we look at Man u, Arsenal and Chelsea or even Spurs and Newcastle they have better strikeforce than ours. I was excited with the arrival of Kuyt after watching him in Youtube. Oh God, was he really good or he has lost his touches after playing for us? As a striker sad to say Kuyt was not threatening at all. No proper first touch and worse passing skills. Whats your problem Dirk? Even Sunderland's Jones is more threatening than you. Talk about hardwork, he has it all too.

 

Enough of having this so called hardworking strikers please, i will be happy if we were to have a lazy striker (Ronaldo) but knows where the net is. Who cares where he runs or where he stands, what matters most is the goals. Strikers are meant for goals, let the hardworking runs and passing handle by the midfielders. Our strikers just for f***in sake position yourself and get the goals in.

 

Rafa, why Voronin? For free transfer even a Hasselbaink will do the job for us. At least he provides a threat upfront.

 

As for Peter Crouch, he is the most dependable among the Kuyt and Voro. He scores goals and he should play. No excuse or stupid reasons for that. Yes he is not the best of the strikers to play for us but he is here so he should be given the striking role.

 

Thank you Rafa for another boring season (:

 

Isn't there a radio phone in you should be participating in?

[Mondavi]

kuyt has certainly gone backwards since he joined us, no idea why.

 

the number of people slating him is annoying though, he's still one of the players most likely to create something. if the midfield is sorted, then i think kuyt/torres can and will be a deadly partnersihp. I don't think it's dirk's ability which holds him back, more his instructions ?

[Bailo]

I don't think it's dirk's ability which holds him back, more his instructions ?

Agree 100% with that. I think he's almost too willing as well......needs to look after his goal tally more than the teams.

[Leo No.8]

The biggest reasons Kuyt struggles at times are partnering him with the wrong players and him dropping too deep, both of which I'd suggest having a word with the manager about.

 

He looks great with Torres where his touches and hold up play become more effective for having a striker partner with pace (Villa away) and terrible with Voronin because both are 'foils' and too pedestrian as a pair (last night).

 

To be honest I wanted to see Kuyt right up top this season, getting in the box and being presented with chances because he's a good finisher but instead he's spent most of his time playing very deep. Both he and Voronin are good footballers being poorly used at present for me.

 

What puzzles me is that Rafa often describes Kuyt and Voronin as 'playing between the lines'. Surely by his own definition that makes them incompatible; both players can't play between the lines, because if they do then who have we got trying to get behind and put pressure on their back line? Surely that's what at least one of your strikers should be doing isn't it?

Edited October 25, 2007 by Leo No.8

[MFletcher]

To be fair, I am starting to come round to the idea that we need a proven goalscorer. I've always understood Rafa's reasons for wanting team players up front. But the bluntness of our attack in Torres' absence has worried me. Fabio Capello has won the league at every club he's been at and he always seems to buy a proven, experienced goalscorer as soon as he gets there. He brought in van Nistelrooy at Madrid and he basically carried them at times. He was scoring a goal every 2.5 shots. Madrid weren't creating enough chances, but RvN's excellent finishing and knack of being in the right place at the right time turned losses into draws and draws into wins and Madrid ultimately won the title with RvN scoring 25 goals.

 

I'm starting to think we need a proper "goal hanger", who will be there at the right place at the right time to knock the ball into the net and give us a 1-0 lead in a tight game, or to make it 1-1 in a game we're losing to give us fresh initiative to push on and win the game.

 

The big problem is finding such a striker. Rafa has already made it clear that he would rather have four strikers scoring 15 goals and he wants team players and not someone who'll hang around at the far post to score 20 goals. But I must admit that I'm beginning to think a proven goalscorer is a necessity if we're going to push on. We can't rely completely on Torres being in the team. The guy will be completely fatigued by the end of the season if we're forced to play him in every game to ensure we aren't completely blunt.

 

Regarding the other three members of our strikeforce mentioned:

 

Crouch is a decent player, but one suspects that he has started to act a big time Charlie behind the scenes. When he has got onto the pitch, he hasn't contributed anywhere near enough. He probably should have moved on in the summer, but given his complete lack of game time so far this season, and the fact he only has 18 months left on his contract, he'll probably move in January. I believe Kuyt to be a good, honest team player who's movement up front creates openings for other players. He clearly has a good understanding of the game and knows where the back of the net is. His problem is that he drops too deep (I suspect on the orders of the management) and he has a somewhat limited first touch. I'm happy enough with what he brings to the side whenever he's in it. Voronin is my real concern. He's been very poor recently and I'm wondering if he has actually "found his level". He was great in his first few games, but you do wonder if that was part of the "boost" from joining Liverpool and a determination to prove himself. Now things aren't really going well and he's making silly choices and showing a completely different side to him.

 

Anyway, with Crouch almost inevitably going, we'll either be signing a striker in January or a winger to replace Babel who will be moved up front. I think our signing in that area will determine once and for all the sort of team that Rafa wants to play. If we sign another hard working but slightly limited play to replace him, I will be very disappointed.

[Cobs]

BUY OWEN !!!!!!!!!

[Stevie H]

To be honest I wanted to see Kuyt right up top this season, getting in the box and being presented with chances because he's a good finisher but instead he's spent most of his time playing very deep.

that's it exactly. he was a penalty box striker at feyenoord, a la shearer. for some reason we've turned him into a link man.

[Hassony]

if we had bellamy or cisse (for all their limitations) upfront instead of voronin we would have won easily today

 

voronin as a striker just doesn't work for me and Kuyt should be told to stay more in the penalty area, 3 minutes into injury time and he was still picking the ball in the centre circle!!!!!

[Bailo]

It's definitely instructions, and dare I say it, a lack of awareness on Dirk's part sometimes. That corner they had at the end, Carra had to scream at him to get him away from the penalty box when they had absolutely no-one there. Carra told him to f*** of back upfront.

[Hassony]

that's it exactly. he was a penalty box striker at feyenoord, a la shearer. for some reason we've turned him into a link man.

 

which might work if his partner is torres or even crouch, but when its voronin than its just useless

[premania]

Isn't there a radio phone in you should be participating in?

 

 

Unfortunately i am in Malaysia and here we dont have a phone in but the radio deejays does their part of frustrating us whenever we lost especially the Man u fanatical deejays.

[premania]

BUY OWEN !!!!!!!!!

 

Yes all forgiven. Bring back St Michael.

[Hassony]

Unfortunately i am in Malaysia and here we dont have a phone in but the radio deejays does their part of frustrating us whenever we lost especially the Man u fanatical deejays.

 

and you seriously think Hasselbaink would have been a better option than voronin, even fowler looks fitter, faster and more hungry at cardiff

[Florist Cinema Pond Goal]

The solution is simple; sign a mobile goal threat that won't mind playing second fiddle to Torres.

 

As for last night, it would have been nice to see Kuyt play ahead of Voronin instead of vice versa.

[premania]

and you seriously think Hasselbaink would have been a better option than voronin, even fowler looks fitter, faster and more hungry at cardiff

 

 

Fowler is class but during his stay with us, he was struggling which best move for him was to leave. Hasselbaink is huge and has that striking instinct which we needs at the moment.

[alias75]

Leo is spot on i think both Kuyt and Veronin have played ok this season but they cannot play together. Torres and kuyt as a partnership has looked very good.

 

I think the problem is when we play poorly as a team it has a knock on effect on every player, dont want to criticise Hyppia too much but when he plays we do have to defend deeper, that means our midfield has to come deeper and then the risk is our forwards drop into midfield.

 

Also when our passing is as poor as its been its very hard to get anything going, i think we need to get rid of those defenders that are poor in posession most notably Riise and Hyppia, when Aggers back we'll be able to defend a little higher up the pitch and that means our midfield are closer to our forwards and hopefully that improves our play.

 

I think you'll find if you take the 1 or 2 weak links out of the team it will have a positive effect on everybody.

[Hassony]

Leo is spot on i think both Kuyt and Veronin have played ok this season but they cannot play together. Torres and kuyt as a partnership has looked very good.

 

I think the problem is when we play poorly as a team it has a knock on effect on every player, dont want to criticise Hyppia too much but when he plays we do have to defend deeper, that means our midfield has to come deeper and then the risk is our forwards drop into midfield.

 

Also when our passing is as poor as its been its very hard to get anything going, i think we need to get rid of those defenders that are poor in posession most notably Riise and Hyppia, when Aggers back we'll be able to defend a little higher up the pitch and that means our midfield are closer to our forwards and hopefully that improves our play.

 

I think you'll find if you take the 1 or 2 weak links out of the team it will have a positive effect on everybody.

our weakest links yesterday and on saturday were finnan, carregher and hyypia, riise has been our best defender in those two games so its wrong to signal him out

 

 

rafa made a mistake when he didn't buy a central defender in the summer, wasted far too long chasing Hienze in the hope to put one over united

 

we should have gone for zak knight when he was available

[alias75]

our weakest links yesterday and on saturday were finnan, carregher and hyypia, riise has been our best defender in those two games so its wrong to signal him out

rafa made a mistake when he didn't buy a central defender in the summer, wasted far too long chasing Hienze in the hope to put one over united

 

we should have gone for zak knight when he was available

 

Not sure if i agree with that but anyway im talking long term not just the last 2 games, Riise is one of our defenders that struggles to keep it and very often resorts to hoofing it long, hes so one footed too that restricts what he can do. My point is if you have 4 or 5 players in a team of 11 that are poor technically or poor passers is it any wonder we dont play well, those weak links will always bring everyone down with them. ideally we need 8 or 9 players that are comfortable in posession, good passers and dont lose it in tight situations, then i think you'd find they would raise the level of others at the moment the reverse is happening.

[Eskimo]

Its toothless because it lacks service, not because its s***. The Porto game is a good example, Torres the one player you have singled out as being the exception looked poor, was that his fault? What's the point in having the "best midfield in the world" when all they do is watch the ball sail over their heads and when they do get the ball they feel under pressure to make something happen. Hence the impossible Hollywood style passes.

[realtarragona]

that's it exactly. he was a penalty box striker at feyenoord, a la shearer. for some reason we've turned him into a link man.

 

Why didn't we just sign a top class forward who is a natural in that position rather than converting a striker.

[Eskimo]

Why didn't we just sign a top class forward who is a natural in that position rather than converting a striker.

 

Possibly Rafa had other ideas at the time, IIRC we played a 4-5-1 system when he was signed.

[smurfinaus]

well for what its worth, Kuyt,Voronin & Crouch - should never be paired together. Kuyt despite his workrate needs to be told to stay up front, preferably either with Torres or Babel. If not Babel we probably need to have another striker who is either nippy or has similar pace to Torres - why?. When torres is left out or injured our attack is slow as a ...whatever and we cant stretch the opposition and when we do out wide the slooowww strikers are too slow into the box.... Sure it doesnt help our midfield isnt functioning as it should. We should have ideally Alonso/Mascherano/Lucas in the middle, Stevie G on the right. The left is a bit of a problem... can be hope Kewell will fix that? . The lack of CB cover is killing us. Sami cant keep playing every game

[John am Rhein]

Why didn't we just sign a top class forward who is a natural in that position rather than converting a striker.

 

Maybe we could get a pack of 3!