Thursday, October 2, 2008

Would somebody please buy this man a drink?

I work in an office where the job dictates that helping out your co-workers will create a better product. Help others and they will help you. When it's all over, the product will be better and you go home knowing you were a professional. Unfortunately, there's too many people of late at work whose favorite phrase is, "That's not my job," or sometimes they go for, "I thought so-and-so was doing that."

Look, dummies, just say what you mean in those cases: "I don't want to do that."

Dirk Kuyt has NEVER said anything like that while wearing a Liverpool shirt, and as you can see here, or here in this argument in the Times, he's starting to get recognized for his valuable contributions to the team.

Sometime about a year ago or so, it became a polite joke at the bar to comment that "Kuyt puts in a shift" out there. Then, suddenly, it wasn't a joke anymore. He really was putting in a hell of a shift, playing some odd combination of right winger/right back and sticking his boots in on all sorts of business all over the pitch. Now, when I see Kuyt out there, I realize no one on the opposition's left flank is going to have an easy time doing anything.

On Keane's goal yesterday against PSV – the goal that stole the focus of the post-match analysis – Torres delivered a wonderful cross to Keane's boot ... after Kuyt controlled from the right channel in the middle of the field, around and through three or four PSV defenders shoving and tackling him, and released Torres into space toward the byline with a perfectly weighted pass. It was the epitome of grunt work. And he maintained just enough skill to complete the move with the pass to Torres.

It was perfect, and really not his job to go slogging from midfield on his own, through tacklers. No matter, Kuyt got it done. He built the foundation on Keane's goal. Torres completed the job, but Fernando never sees the ball without Kuyt's work.

Kuyt, Torres, Keane. They came together, shared responsibility and got it done. What a unique concept. They should hold a seminar in my office.

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