Category: Dirk Kuyt

The Ivory Coast international striker Didier Drogba has said that Galatasaray have been extremely fortunate to get a 0-0 draw in the recent match against Anatolia.

Galatasaray have been on a seven match unbeaten run before this match, and they managed to extend the unbeaten run to 8 matches following this draw. However, the former Chelsea striker Drogba admitted that his team were lucky to come away with a point. Drogba has said that it was an extremely tough match especially after the Champions league exertions for Galatasaray. The Turkish club are currently top of the table with a seven-point advantage over the second placed Besiktas.

The club recently brought in the likes of Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder. They will be required to produce a great performance when Galatasaray take on Schalke in the second leg of the Champions League last 16 stage. Drogba has said that the team needs to work on several aspects if they are to be at their peak when they take on Schalke in a week’s time. The club’s league match against Gençlerbirliği will take place on Friday instead of the weekends, thus giving the Turkish club a slight advantage going into the match against Schalke. The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw, which favours the German club.

“It was a tough game, we played a good team. We were lucky to go home with a point. We must now spend the next 2-3 days analysing our performance. Yesterday [on Saturday], we encountered some difficulties in entering the final third,” said Drogba in an interview after the match to Lig TV. The 34-year-old striker managed to win the Champions league only in the summer with his former club Chelsea. He has made three appearances for Galatasaray and has scored one goal, which came in the Champions league.

Galatasaray have a greater chance of progression into the quarter-final stage of the Champions League according to the goalkeeper of the Turkish club, Fernando Muslera. Galatasaray have been one of the surprise package is in the Champions League this season, as they have progressed to the last 16 stage despite being in a group containing the likes of Manchester United.

They will be facing Schalke in the first knockout stages. The 2-1 win over Braga in the final group match helped Galatasaray secure this tie against the German club. Even though there have been suggestions that Galatasaray have been handed a relatively easy draw, Muslera said that there are no easy games in this tournament.

The 26-year-old, though, feels that his team has a slightly better capability of playing in the quarter-final stage of the competition because the two teams do not have a lot of difference. The home leg will be extremely crucial for Galatasaray in their hopes of progression. Despite qualifying into the knockout stages not as the group winners, Galatasaray have been handed a relatively easy draw. Their group stage opponents Manchester United, on the other hand, will be facing one of the toughest matches in the draw – Real Madrid. Galatasaray are currently top of the Turkish league with a three-point advantage.

“Our priority was to qualify from the group stage. We drew an easier team compared to the other teams like Barcelona. Of course it is still a hard game. But the teams are head-to-head I think,” said the 26-year-old Galatasaray goalkeeper. The first leg of the knockout stages will be played in the second week of February, while the return leg will be in the first week of March. Despite being relatively young, Muslera has been a first-team regular for Galatasaray and has made 16 appearances so far this campaign.

The former Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt has praised the Liverpool fans by saying that they are one of the best in the world, while the atmosphere that they generate at Anfield is also unbelievable.

The 32-year-old Dutch forward recently brought an end to the six year spell at Anfield by moving to the Turkish club Fenerbahçe for around £ 1 million. He has also said that he is yet to experience the full atmosphere of the Fenerbahçe due to the stadium ban that has been ongoing. He has also praised the life in Turkey by saying that the people are extremely friendly.

Even though the Carling cup last season was the only trophy Dirk Kuyt lifted during his six year spell with the Premier league club, he has no regrets about the Anfield career. The striker was initially signed by Rafael Benitez to play as a centre forward, but was eventually moved to the right-wing position. So far, he has made 15 appearances for the Turkish club this season. He has scored two goals and created eight goals, and has been making a huge impact already at the club. Kuyt has said that he cannot wait for the stadium ban to be lifted.

“I think the Liverpool supporters are great, I played there for six years and the atmosphere in the stadium is unbelievable. I haven’t been able to get the full Fenerbahce experience yet due to the stadium ban however, I saw glimpses in the Marseille game and if we get support like that in the future they will help us win many games. We are very happy to be here and I also feel very welcome by the Turkish people,” said the 32-year-old striker. He will be hoping to lift the Turkish championship title with his club this season.

The striker of Fenerbahce, Dirk Kuyt has said that he would try to persuade his compatriot and former Arsenal captain, Robin Van Persie, to join Fenerbahce. He gave this statement while talking to the Liverpool news reporters before the World Cup qualifying match between Netherlands and Turkey.

As per Kuyt, he was on a holiday with Persie before the start of the season and he had talked to Persie about joining Fenerbahce then. But, Persie wanted to continue playing in the Premier League and he was looking to sign for an English club. So, he opted for Manchester United. The Dutch veteran said that he would again try to bring Persie to Fenerbahce.

Kuyt has signed for Fenerbahce this summer. He has joined the club on a contract of 3 years. Fenerbahce has paid 1 million Euros for buying Kuyt from Feyenoord. Kuyt has proved to be a very good buy for the club. He has performed amazingly well so far. His first goal for Fenerbahce came in a Champions League qualifying match against Vaslui.

Kuyt scored two goals in that match. He again scored in his first league match against Elazigspor. On being asked about his tenure at Fenerbahce so far, the Dutch veteran said that he is enjoying his time at Fenerbahce. Football is a popular game here in Turkey and people turn out in huge numbers to watch the matches. It’s exciting to play in front of such intense crowd. He has started the season well and he wants to continue playing well till the end of the season.

On being asked about the new coach of Netherlands, Louis Van Gaal, Kuyt said that Gall is a great manager and a very good human being. His attitude is supportive and he creates a fantastic environment in the camp. Hopefully, the Netherlands team would do well under his guidance.

The former Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt has said that the Arsenal star striker Robin van Persie has once mentioned to him that he would like to play for his current club Fenerbahçe.

The former Liverpool striker recently ended his six-year association with the Premier league club after moving to the Turkish club. Arsenal star striker Robin van Persie, who is also a fellow Dutchman, has been heavily linked with a move away from Arsenal in recent months. He also recently confirmed that he would not sign a new contract with the club.

Even though he is right now linked with some of the biggest clubs in the world like Manchester United and Juventus, it is thought that Robin van Persie would one day want to play for the Turkish club Fenerbahçe according to his international teammate Dirk Kuyt. The 32-year-old might have won only one trophy during his time at Anfield, but he is set to start a revolution at the Turkish club by becoming the first of many high profile players to arrive in the next few seasons. The Turkish club managed to grab Dirk Kuyt for just € 1 million. He has signed a three-year contract with them.

“I spent six years, four months at Liverpool. First of all I’d like to thank my teammates, managers, the fans and all the people that worked for Liverpool football club. I am at a great club and I’m very happy to be here, I believe Fenerbahçe will become a club like Liverpool. I would like to thank my captain, Alex De Souza. Alex gave me a very warm welcome, he made a speech yesterday in front of my teammates wishing me all the best, it was a moving moment, we are like a family here, its a great team environment,” said Kuyt while on the pre-season training.

The former Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt has said that he is very much looking forward to the new chapter in his career after recently securing the move to Turkish club Fenerbahce.

The Dutch striker joined Liverpool back in 2006 and has had six years at Anfield. Even though he has only the Carling cup that he won this season to show for his work at Anfield, he has said that he is nonetheless extremely happy that he decided to move to Liverpool in his career. Now, he is very much looking forward to the next chapter in his career.

There have been rumours persisting even during the Kenny Dalglish era that Dirk Kuyt would finally leave Liverpool, especially when they signed Luis Suarez. Even though he has been praised for his work rate, Liverpool fans have always complained that he has lacked the quality required to play for a club like Liverpool. However, he has been extremely brilliant for the club in the last couple of seasons after having been moved to the right wing position by the former manager Rafael Benitez, who was instrumental in bringing the Dutch forward to Anfield. The 31-year-old recently played at the Euro 2012 with the Dutch national team, who were a major disappointment at this major competition.

“See, that makes me feel really good. You can feel the trust people have in you here. The welcome is really warm. That is just really pleasant to experience. The disappointment of the Euros is not erased, but I needed something like this,” said Dirk Kuyt in response to the comments made by the club after securing his signature.

“We consider the arrival of Dirk Kuyt at our club as the same size coup as when we got Roberto Carlos,” said the general manager of the club after announcing the signing of Dirk Kuyt.

Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt is a major target for German club Hamburg in the summer, as the club looks to rebuild from the front.

Hamburg manager Thorsten Fink is thought to be a great fan of the Dutch forward Dirk Kuyt, who has been largely utilised as a right-winger by Liverpool in the last couple of seasons. It is thought that Dirk Kuyt has been persuaded with the thought of playing up front for Hamburg at the start of the new season. The 30-year-old Dirk Kuyt looks to be coming to the end of his Liverpool career after Kenny Dalglish has not picked him for the most important matches.
Liverpool paid Dutch club Feyenoord £ 9 million for the services back in 2006.

Even though it is highly unlikely that they will be able to recoup the money, Dirk Kuyt’s six year stay at Anfield finally looks to be coming to an end. He was already linked with a move abroad in the summer, but due to the lack of concrete bid from clubs, he decided to stay for one more season. When asked about the possibility of signing Dirk Kuyt, Hamburg manager Thorsten Fink said that he is a class centre forward and that Hamburg will be going to great lengths in order to secure his signature.

“He has class, and he is also a fighter. There is nothing more that needs to be said about the quality of this player. Whether this is something we feel we want to commit to, we will see,” Fink told the German sports magazine Kicker his opinion about Liverpool striker Kuyt. Meanwhile, former Chelsea sporting director Frank Arnesen, who is at Hamburg on a similar role, has said that Kuyt is a player they would like to sign in the summer.

Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt has said that the draw with Manchester City has not affected the team morale one little bit. After coming on the back of high-profile wins over Chelsea, Liverpool were expected to put up a strong fight against Manchester City, but could only draw the match.

One of the main reasons for the result being in favour of Manchester City was due to the fact that it was at Anfield. Liverpool has struggled at Anfield of late, but Dirk Kuyt has said that the team is definitely confident, despite the draw with Manchester City.

Manchester City opened the scoring through Vincent Kompany early on in the second half. Even though it looked like a great header from a corner at first, replays clearly showed that the ball had bounce off Vincent Kompany’s shoulder. City, thus, were extremely lucky to take the lead after Liverpool had dominated most of the possession and the chances. However, Liverpool were quickly back on level terms when they equalised through Charlie Adam, but it was Liverpool who were fortunate this time around. Charlie Adam’s weak shot was deflected into his own net by Joleon Lescott. Manchester City keeper Joe Hart watched in disbelief as the ball crept back into his own net.

However, Liverpool were upbeat in the second half and they created a number of chances, with the most notable ones falling to Andy Carroll, but the former Newcastle United striker found Joe Hart in excellent form each time. “I think if you had said we would take four points from Chelsea away and City at home you would probably have signed up for it. In my opinion City have so far been the best team in the Premier League so we can take lots of positives from our performance,” said Dirk Kuyt.