Apr 3 2008
by David Prentice, Liverpool Echo
DIRK KUYT is well used to put downs. So often have the words “much maligned” preceded his name this season that the likeable Dutchman could have been forgiven for thinking he’d been handed a new nickname.
But there was nothing to malign last night.
In fact, there were different phrases preceding his name, especially from his admiring manager, after a colossal performance.
“Unbelievable,” declared Rafa Benitez, before deciding that didn’t do justice to the Dutchman’s efforts and added. “Amazing.”
And this from a manager who doesn’t dispense praise lightly.
Kuyt’s marathon man mimicry – together with a touch of class from his skipper – has given Liverpool a firm foothold on their third Champions League semi-final in succession.
As Arsenal proved in the previous round against the holders, a goalless home draw is not a scoreline to cause consternation for the second leg.
A scoring draw, however, shifts the parameters completely.
And the away goal Liverpool snatched in the 25th minute means they don’t need to chase the game next Tuesday.
Arsenal do, and Liverpool will be able to employ the suffocating, supremely effective counter-attacking tactics which proved so productive at the Emirates Stadium last night.
The first 25 minutes of the second half was as absorbing as European football gets.
Arsenal attacked relentlessly, shuttling flashy intricate patterns at breathtaking speed in and around the Liverpool penalty box.
But the irresistible forces met four immovable objects as Liverpool defended magnificently.
Sometimes it was frantic, sometimes it was last ditch – but it was always enormously effective.
And adding his efforts to the defensive duties was Kuyt.
Even that didn’t stop people still trying to run him down, mind.
Arsene Wenger described him as a “second Liverpool right-back in the second half” before trying to deprive him of his goal.
“I don’t know who scored,” he said. “Who got the touch? Was it Clichy?”
It was undeniably Kuyt’s goal, as he barged between two defenders to ensure Steven Gerrard’s classy sleight of foot was not in vain.
And if he got a slice of luck when lenient referee Pieter Vink ignored a left handed tug which persuaded Aleksandr Hleb to fall, he earned it.
After trying to support his skipper and Fernando Torres in the first half, in the second half he was asked to help quell the threat of the precocious Theo Walcott ,whose introduction at half-time for the injured Robin Van Persie gave Liverpool an even pacier headache to deal with.
Of course, this was far from a one-man show. Gerrard had an in and out evening, but the moment when he was in form was a potentially tie-changing moment.
He dribbled and drove past two Arsenal defenders then crossed left-footed – the 21st time this season he has directly created a goal for a team-mate.
If you want some idea of how astonishing that record is, his closest rival in the Liverpool squad has set up 10 . . . a certain hard working Dutchman.
Four of Kuyt’s assists have come since his switch to right midfield, a move initially designed to take him out of the firing line during a barren spell in front of goal, but a move which is looking more and more like a long term career switch.
This quarter final tie is still delicately poised, but the momentum is now undoubtedly with Liverpool.
London Transport Police did their best to take the gloss off the evening. There were still fans queuing outside Holloway Tube Station at 11 o’clock.
But it hardly mattered. Everything comes to he who waits.
Ask Dirk Kuyt.
by David Prentice, Liverpool Echo
DIRK KUYT is well used to put downs. So often have the words “much maligned” preceded his name this season that the likeable Dutchman could have been forgiven for thinking he’d been handed a new nickname.
But there was nothing to malign last night.
In fact, there were different phrases preceding his name, especially from his admiring manager, after a colossal performance.
“Unbelievable,” declared Rafa Benitez, before deciding that didn’t do justice to the Dutchman’s efforts and added. “Amazing.”
And this from a manager who doesn’t dispense praise lightly.
Kuyt’s marathon man mimicry – together with a touch of class from his skipper – has given Liverpool a firm foothold on their third Champions League semi-final in succession.
As Arsenal proved in the previous round against the holders, a goalless home draw is not a scoreline to cause consternation for the second leg.
A scoring draw, however, shifts the parameters completely.
And the away goal Liverpool snatched in the 25th minute means they don’t need to chase the game next Tuesday.
Arsenal do, and Liverpool will be able to employ the suffocating, supremely effective counter-attacking tactics which proved so productive at the Emirates Stadium last night.
The first 25 minutes of the second half was as absorbing as European football gets.
Arsenal attacked relentlessly, shuttling flashy intricate patterns at breathtaking speed in and around the Liverpool penalty box.
But the irresistible forces met four immovable objects as Liverpool defended magnificently.
Sometimes it was frantic, sometimes it was last ditch – but it was always enormously effective.
And adding his efforts to the defensive duties was Kuyt.
Even that didn’t stop people still trying to run him down, mind.
Arsene Wenger described him as a “second Liverpool right-back in the second half” before trying to deprive him of his goal.
“I don’t know who scored,” he said. “Who got the touch? Was it Clichy?”
It was undeniably Kuyt’s goal, as he barged between two defenders to ensure Steven Gerrard’s classy sleight of foot was not in vain.
And if he got a slice of luck when lenient referee Pieter Vink ignored a left handed tug which persuaded Aleksandr Hleb to fall, he earned it.
After trying to support his skipper and Fernando Torres in the first half, in the second half he was asked to help quell the threat of the precocious Theo Walcott ,whose introduction at half-time for the injured Robin Van Persie gave Liverpool an even pacier headache to deal with.
Of course, this was far from a one-man show. Gerrard had an in and out evening, but the moment when he was in form was a potentially tie-changing moment.
He dribbled and drove past two Arsenal defenders then crossed left-footed – the 21st time this season he has directly created a goal for a team-mate.
If you want some idea of how astonishing that record is, his closest rival in the Liverpool squad has set up 10 . . . a certain hard working Dutchman.
Four of Kuyt’s assists have come since his switch to right midfield, a move initially designed to take him out of the firing line during a barren spell in front of goal, but a move which is looking more and more like a long term career switch.
This quarter final tie is still delicately poised, but the momentum is now undoubtedly with Liverpool.
London Transport Police did their best to take the gloss off the evening. There were still fans queuing outside Holloway Tube Station at 11 o’clock.
But it hardly mattered. Everything comes to he who waits.
Ask Dirk Kuyt.
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