Dirk Kuyt - Our Flying Dutchman

A lot has happened in the world of Liverpool Football Club since my last posting. Tottenham once again managed to beat Liverpool at White Heart Lane, this time beating a side of mostly second string players (bar Agger and Torres) quite badly, with the score of 4-2. It's not a good result, but it was in the Carling Cup and I don't really care about that competition.

That was last Wednesday. On Saturday Liverpool hosted Bolton Wanderers, who are an absolutely terrible side. In the first half we were all over them, but didn't quite have any incisiveness. Dirk Kuyt opened the scoring in the 23rd minute after the post. Bolton had a goal disallowed as their captain was obstructing Pepe Reina during a corner kick. Liverpool were lucky when Ricardo Gardener hilariously slipped in front of an open goal. Shortly after Fernando Torres was introduced as a substitute, he set up Steven Gerrard for a header, completing the scoring at 2-0. A good win that keeps us on pace with Chelsea in the league tables.

Subject to heavy criticism last year, Dirk Kuyt is a huge part behind Liverpool's successes this season

Liverpool have been impressive in the league this season and this is down to the form of some key players. One such player is Dutch international Dirk Kuyt, who has been in imperious form this season. Some Liverpool fans will nod in agreement, others will hotly dispute this claim.

When Dirk Kuyt signed for us in 2006 we'd signed the Feyenoord captain - a beloved striker by the fans with one of the most impressive goal records in Dutch football. The early days of his Liverpool career were fantastic - he didn't score too many but he worked harder than anyone else on the pitch. He looked a quality player and scoring the final goal in Liverpool's Champions League Final loss to AC Milan in Athens.

After Liverpool had experienced the heartbreak of defeat in Europe's most prestigeous competition, Kuyt faced further heartbreak when his father lost his battle with cancer and past away. While the Dutchman claims it did not effect his football form - he was a truely abysmal player last season. With only 3 league goals to his name, Kuyt found himself struggling for a place in the first team. Unable to find the back of the net with consistency, Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez found a place for Dirk in the starting lineup. Kuyt was converted from a striker to a right-sided midfielder and Liverpool's form turned around. Kuyt found himself scoring important goals once more.

This season Dirk Kuyt has been pivotal for Liverpool. We simply would not be as successful as we are currently if he was out of the first team. To look at his impact on the team we have to see what Dirk Kuyt adds to our side. He is an attacking player who plays primarily on the right side of our midfield or as a striker - so let us first look at what is usually a good indicator of a quality wide-midfield player.

What we usually expect from wingers in England is for them to have great technical ability, for them to be able to run with the ball at fullbacks. Kuyt is a player known for his relatively poor technical ability. He is not blessed with great pace. It is usually quite rare for him to take on fullbacks head on. It is quite clear the Dutch attacker is not your typical wide player. What Dirk Kuyt offers to a side is very valuable and not every player can offer it. He is a rare gem of a player, despite his lack of technical ability.

So what talents does he bring to the table? He's got the striker instincts with fantastic off the ball movement. Even when he was in very poor form last season, you could still see his predatory striker instinct. He knows how to get the ball on target - which is the first step to scoring. He always takes up great attacking possitions and makes himself an attacking outlet. This season he's been contributing many goals and assists because of this. These predatory instincts highlight the big man's vesatility. We've been playing him mostly as a right winger (although in an atypical winger role). But he's also more than handy as a striker. Being able to play well in more than one position makes him a very valuable player.

Kuyt's industriousness has been key in Liverpool's title challenge

Perhaps his greatest value to a club like Liverpool is his tremendous workrate. He is an attacking player who never forgets his defensive duties. If he loses the ball, you can guarantee he will do everything he can to get it back. He will track back further than you can imagine and will happily march all the way up to the opposition's byline. The effort he puts in on the pitch is amazing and most fans appreciate any no-nonsense, hardworking player, who will consistently put himself on the line to grab the team a win.

Something that goes hand in hand with his workrate is his amazing stamina and physical ability. I think moving him out wide onto the right really showcases his physicality and stamina. He may not have great pace, but he has great endurance and is not likely to get bullied by defenders. Instead he is likely to attempt to bully the defenders and use his stamina to wear them down. I think this is a tremendous part of his game.

Furthermore, Kuyt is mentally very strong. You can see it in the way he plays. He really understands the game - he takes intelligent possitions on the pitch and he works well with players like Gerrard, Torres, and Babel when we counter attack. He was the captain of Feyenoord and he has leader qualities, he's never moaning about anything on the field and is always seen encouraging his teammates and that is something that is great to see from your players. And to come back from a tragic loss which learly effected him deeply, coming back from some truly terrible form and working hard to establish yourself in the first team at a club like Liverpool takes some real mental fortitude and if you don't believe that then I simply just don't know what to say to you.

So I think Dirk Kuyt is an unsung hero, really. He brings a lot to our side and despite his limitations is a very talented player. This season he's really proven that with the amount of assists he has racked up - and is currently our joint top scorer (sharing the title with our glorious captain Steven Gerrard MBE).

Keep posted, my friends, there will be more updates this week. The topics of discussion will be: Steven Gerrard and his 10 years at this football club, our fullback situation, and an in-depth analysis of what I think Liverpool's starting lineup should be.

Liverpool Draw, Mascherano to be Argentina captain, Barack Obama wins

Yesterday was an eventful day for everybody in the world. For Liverpool fans the action started earlier than it did with most people as there was a midweek game against Atletico Madrid. This was our golden opportunity to bounce back from our loss against Tottenham with an emphatic win - and we saw a rather tame performance. Once again we lacked any cutting edge from goals and while they scored a spectacular goal, they were not a team comfortable in the lead. After two legitimate penalty appeals had been denied, the wonderful referee decided to award a penalty to Liverpool based off of a very dodgy decision. I don't think it's right that referees can make so many high profile mistakes in such a high profile game and really not fear any reprocussions. If I do a bad job at something, I fear reprocussions - not so for professional referees.

In any case, the game was dull. It highlighted a real worry for Liverpool fans everywhere: Why can't we score without Fernando Torres. He is probably the best striker in the world and any club missing a player like him would feel some impact. But with players like Gerrard, Keane, Riera, Kuyt, and Babel the attack should really be looking a lot stronger.

This weekend the Reds face West Bromwich Albion, a team that we should be able to beat with relative ease. They're a newly promoted club and they are not looking too strong. This game is must win (unlike yesterday's Champions League fixture). We must remain competative in the league to retain our title ambitions.

In other Liverpool news, defensive Javier Mascherano could be in line to be the next Argentina captain. Now that legendary player Diego Maradona (probably the best player to grace the game) is the manager of Argentina, he wants Mascherano to lead his country. To quote El Diego, "I want Mascherano to be my captain because I believe he is the Argentinian player who is closest to the idea I have about the Argentinian shirt - sweat for it, sacrifice for it, being a professional, being close to the team-mate. I will convince him, he will be my captain." Rafa Benitez, Liverpool manager, has endorsed the idea of Mascherano becoming captain. I'm pleased for Javier, he's a very good player, who really changed our midfield as soon as we brought him in. It's an honour to be captain of your country, especially a country like Argentina which can actually compete for prestigious international trophies. Perhaps in 2010 we will see Mascherano lifting the World Cup above his head.

And lastly, last night was too big of an occasion for me to not comment on. I know this isn't a political blog and I don't mean to alienate any readers or anything. I simply feel that as witnesses of something historical, we should reflect on the moment as much as possible. As someone who just got their citizenship in January, I must say that being an American is quite awesome. I had never felt so happy as I had when I listened to Barack Obama (the President Elect!) give his acceptance speech. I feel like there is so much potential in this presidency in terms of progress made societally and so much can be done for civil rights. I am very optimistic for what the future holds in these uncertain times.

Also, I think it's really funny that I've seen conservatives on facebook change their status to say things like "... is moving to Canada" or "I'm leaving the US" or "it's time to move to Britain." As a proud Brit, I will happily tell you that if you move to the United Kingdom you will find it to be much more liberal than America. Most people recognize that Canada is significantly more liberal than the United States. In fact, most places that these people would willingly want to live are much more left leaning politically than the U.S. I can understand being sore about the loss - but really, when you make idle threats, at least make them make sense.

Liverpool prepare to face Chelsea

I said I would write again on Saturday, and here we are at 37 minutes past midnight and I am writing my second blog post on Saturday. All the focus in the Liverpool world is the impending match with Chelsea.

Chelsea are a weird club. We have probably played them more than any other club in Europe since 2005. I know we've played them in 3 Champions League Semi-Finals in the last four years (being victorious twice!). But they've got a very good record at home, and we'll be traveling to their stadium hoping to carry on our unbeaten run. Both teams are undefeated and Chelsea haven't lost at home for 86 matches or something ridiculous like that. I hope it's a good game.

I know it will probably be a dull game with both teams playing really defensive football because neither team will want to lose. And if I'm honest, if I were to expect one team to try to take the game to the other, it would probably be them (being that they are the home team). But this is a pretty good time to play them in terms of how injuries and suspensions have effected their squad. They've got Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, and Joe Cole definitely out - those are huge players for them. We've got our own injury problems with Skrtel definitely out for a few months, Torres not being likely to play, and Keane, Gerrard, and Alonso all carrying what Rafa Benitez describes as "minor knocks." I really wish Torres could play though, that would be great.

I really hope that we can win this one. Chelsea are major title contenders and we're level with them on points (although they have a higher goal difference). Winning away at Chelsea wouldn't just mean ending their insane home undefeated stretch - but it would send out a serious message to the rest of the league. We want to win the league and I think this is the closest we've come to actually challenging in a long time. It's a long season, obviously, but I'm not old enough to remember the last time Liverpool won the league and it's something that I'm desperately looking to see.

I've got a busy week ahead of me with take home midterms, regular midterms, and various other activities. I hope that Sunday will kick start a productive week with a Liverpool win!