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Last night’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa illustrated just how inept some Liverpool players are. That isn’t to say the rest of the team performed heroically, but Dirk Kuyt, Harry Kewell and, to a marginally lesser extent, Fabio Aurelio are all simply not fit to wear the shirt.

An array of misplaced passes and total lack of positional sense showed just how little the Brazilian Aurelio offers to the club. It’s no coincidence that the games he has started have pretty much all been uninspired affairs. The former Valencia man is pretty much a squad player who should never be called upon to start a match and should only be used five minutes from time to help grind out a result.

‘Kewell can’t beat a man for pace, his cross rarely beats the first defender and when he loses possession he invariably stands still with his hands in the air. He really is a waste of space’


Kuyt has had many detractors since he came to Anfield, and I wasn’t one of them, but after seeing him in action last night I am afraid I can stand it any longer. The Dutch striker is poor and no amount of trying as hard as you can will make up for sheer lack of ability. The 27-year-old has no first touch and, in my opinion, is a) not worth the £9m we spent on him and b) not fit to grace the starting XI of most Premier League sides.

Then we come to Kewell. Where do I start? How on earth does Ryan Babel get overlooked for the Aussie? If Kewell is offered a new contract in the summer it would be a travesty. With the exception of the shot he fired at Stuart Taylor in the second half can anyone tell me of a single positive he brought to the game against Villa? He can’t beat a man for pace, his cross rarely beats the first defender and when he loses possession he invariably stands still with his hands in the air. He really is a waste of space.

One player who rose head and shoulders above the rest yesterday was veteran defender Sami Hyypia. He was awesome, often intercepting the ball and acting as sweeper. The Finn showed class when most around him were floundering. Rafa needs to avoid picking the duds at all costs and that means all three players mentioned here need to be offloaded, because even if injuries required these players to play I would rather opt for youth players.

Peter Crouch deserves a decent chance – he provided more in 10 minutes last night than Kuyt has managed in weeks. Babel scares the life out of defenders and, OK, he may not be consistent, but Kewell is simply consistently poor. Why pay £11.5m for the Ajax man and then keep him on the bench? At least Babel offers a goal threat. The dead wood must be removed and quickly!

Come on you Reds!