Season Review – Team of the Season – Dirk Kuyt

Five gameweeks into the season and Chelsea and Florent Malouda looked unstoppable. The Frenchman was the Fantasy player to have in midfield – 6 goals in 5 gameweeks saw his price rocket to 10.0 from 9.5, with Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt one player who was undoubtedly cleared out to make way for the on-fire winger. By the end of the season however, the situation had reversed spectacularly.

While Malouda’s form petered out, almost in tandem, Liverpool’s industrious Dutchman began to flourish. Circumstances fell for Kuyt as the arrival of Kenny Dalglish and injuries to Steven Gerrard and Andy Carroll handed him new responsibilities and opportunities. Kuyt gobbled them up and ended the season with an extraordinary run of goals to earn his place in our Fantasy team of the season.

The Statistics

Kuyt was initially available for a sum of 9.0 in the Fantasy Premier League game, a drop from his 9.5 valuation in 2009/10. Nine goals and 4 assists in that season suggested that Kuyt could offer value but his early campaign did not go well. Liverpool stalled under Roy Hodgson, while Kuyt suffered both ankle and shoulder injuries which restricted him to just four five starts in the opening ten gameweeks. One goal in that spell meant that Kuyt suffered transfer deficits in 9 of the first 11 gameweeks – Fantasy managers had turned their back on Dirk Kuyt.

By the time that Hodgson departed and Kenny Dalglish took the reins, Kuyt’s value had dropped to 8.7. Three goals for the season with just a single assist and zero Bonus Points barely hinted at the transformation which would then take place.

Kuyt scored in Dalglish’s first home fixture in charge in the 2-2 draw with Merseyside rivals Everton but it was not until gameweek 29 that the Dutchman exploded. An incredible hat-trick in the 3-1 over United at Anfield was possibly the high point in Kuyt’s Liverpool tenure. It also marked Steven Gerrard’s last game of the season as the Liverpool skipper bowed out with a groin injury. That was a significant event for Kuyt, who, off the back of his hat-trick, then took over spot-kick duties.

Having already scored from the spot against Everton with Gerrard absent, Kuyt converted three more penalties before the end of the season. Nine goals in the last 9 gameweeks took his season tally to 13 – his biggest league haul in Liverpool colours. An impressive 8 assists and 14 Bonus Points capped a superb spell for the Dutchman and this end of season form duly saw him claim a top four spot in team of the season midfield, ahead of the aforementioned Malouda.

The Prospects

Astute Fantasy managers will not be seduced by Kuyt’s devastating end to the season. Circumstances fell for the Dutchman and with Steven Gerrard set to return to the starting XI and presumably penalty duties, Kuyt will immediately have his goal potential cut. Perhaps more significantly, Andy Carroll will be fit enough to renew a partnership with Luis Suarez that stuttered due to injuries for the big Geordie. That will likely see Kuyt figure in a wider role, perhaps on the right-flank. With goal scoring opportunities perhaps cut then, Kuyt will be a far less attractive proposition. When you couple that with a likely price rise back to 9.5 or even 10.0, Kuyt seems unlikely to attract heavy interest in our initial squads.