Absolutely nothing?
Instead of picking on Arsenal I’ll pick on their North London rivals and Peter Crouch in particular after his performance last Sunday.
I’ve been struggling to figure out why he was selected for the game against City and his display left me even more confused. He scores but he’s not very prolific. Many would trot out the annoying observation that “he’s got good feet for a tall man” (why, can he not see the ball from where he’s standing?) but most of the time he looks like he’s about to fall over (and spends as much time on the ground as Emile Heskey) and he’s tall…but can’t seem to use that to his advantage.
He showed that he can be a reasonable to good finisher but he’s never shown the kind of evidence that, if given one chance in a whole match, he would put it away with unerring precision. My biggest criticism of Crouch is that as each year passes he’s becoming less reliable and more of a liability. I refer you to that red card against Real Madrid in Champions League.
He squanders possession, as he did on more than a few occasions against City, either by giving away fouls or being crowded out by the opposition. He had a chance to put Spurs back in the match but planted the header wide (by a couple of inches, it has to be said). If that was Darren Bent you’d be surprised if the ball ended anywhere but the goal but with Crouch I’m less confident in his technique.
The nature of his physique means that Tottenham often play the ball long, hoping that through his knockdowns either Van der Vaart, Bale, Lennon or Defoe can pick up the pieces. Oftentimes it works, most times Tottenham concede possession. Playing to his feet could be a better alternative but for a striker with the height of Crouch, the dilemma is that you’d rather have him in the box than being involved in the build up some fifteen/twenty yards away before he puts those gangly legs in motion and (slowly) makes his way to the box.
So what use does he have? He doesn’t have the scoring prowess of Bent, lacks the touch or imagination of a Rooney and physically he’s a pushover unless he pulls the defender’s hair. What we have here is player who’s included for a very specific purpose and when he fails to perform offers less and less to the team. Tottenham must desperately want Adebayor to get match fit because if they continue to play with Crouch they’ll find themselves shipping in more goals more than they score.
