DIRK: WE OWE THE FANS A BIG ONE

by Jimmy Rice 28 February 2007





Dirk Kuyt admits he and his teammates owe the fans a big performance against Manchester United on Saturday to make amends for their disappointing defeat at Old Trafford earlier in the season.

The Reds lost 2-0 in October and Kuyt believes a vintage display is required to banish the painful memories.

"I think we owe a performance after Old Trafford. That was a disappointing time and we definitely want a better result at Anfield this time," said the Dutchman.

"It would be a great result for us if we could do it. We just need to go and approach the game as we've done in the last week.

"If you can beat a side like Barcelona with players of the quality of Messi and Ronaldinho, you know you can beat a lot of teams.

"We've come back from Barcelona and done a good job at the weekend with a win and a clean sheet. Now we want to beat United.

"We've beaten Chelsea at home and Barcelona away, so now we can have confidence to progress by beating Manchester United.

"It's one of the most important games you can play in the season, so no-one can be thinking about Barcelona until after this game.

"We're in a situation where we don't need to worry about finishing second or the teams behind us.

"We just need to keep focused on winning our own games, not thinking of Chelsea, Arsenal or Bolton. There would be nothing better than beating United."
Kuyt will face friend and Dutch teammate Edwin van der Sar, who he ranks as the best keeper in the world.

"It will be particularly good for me to play against Edwin," said Kuyt. "He's a legend in Holland and if you can score against him, you can score against anyone in the world."

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A PORTUGUESE POSTCARD FROM DIRK

Dirk Kuyt has revealed what he and his teammates have been getting up to during their five-day training camp in Portugal.

In a diary piece for icons.com, the Dutchman admitted the lads were having a great time preparing for next week's Champions League clash with Barca.

He said: "I'm in Portugal at a training camp with Liverpool at the moment. We haven't got a game until next Wednesday so the boss has brought us away for five days to do some training and team-building.

"We're training in the morning, and then in the afternoon we'll have a game of golf, play some cards and have a meal with the lads in the evening. "It's a great chance for everyone to get to know each other better, particularly for people like me who are in our first season at the club.

"It's also a good chance for me to improve my golf! I don't have a handicap, but I reckon I would play off about 22. It's not something I played much before, but the lads at Liverpool play all the time and some of them are pretty good.

"So I'm taking lessons now. I play every week and go to a driving range because I'm determined to get better. I like to win at everything I do, and golf is no different. I'll let you know how I get on."

Kuyt also spoke about his love of Liverpool and the Anfield faithful.

"To have the respect of the supporters is great. It has really helped me settle in," he said.

"I'm so lucky. When I was at Feyenoord, I had the greatest fans in Holland behind me, and now I'm at Liverpool I think we have the best fans in England.

"The support they give us is unbelievable, I've never known anything like it.

"What honours me most is that when we played Arsenal in the Carling Cup, it was a horrible night, it was cold, it was raining, and of course it's a lot of money to come and watch. But it was sold out!"

The striker has inspired several Kuyt-related songs since his arrival in the summer, but he admits there is one that has stuck out.

"I've heard the song the fans sing for me, too: Put your hands up for Dirk Kuyt. I want to thank every one of them for that. To have the respect of the supporters is great. It has really helped me settle in. It was a great song already and now I like it even more!"

Kuyt also revealed he and his teammates are feeling confident of progressing to the quarter-finals of the Champions League despite the quality of next week's opposition.

He said: "What a game it is, away to Barcelona. We will have to improve on our performance against Newcastle, for sure.

"I believe we drew the best team in the Champions League when we got Barcelona, they are the champions after all, but I also believe we can beat them.

"It's always good to play against the best teams, and if you want to win the trophy you have to beat the strongest teams at some stage.

"We're lucky that we have the second leg at Anfield, and when we get them back there we will have the incredible Anfield crowd behind us."

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