Rafa didn’t want to sell Crouch. People who write articles should have knowledge of the suituation before they write about it.

Crouch wanted to leave because he knew Fernando Torres is the number 1 at Liverpool so he wouldn’t get as many games as he would have liked, thus he would have less of a chance at the starting job for England, which is without a doubt up for grabs.

Plus getting £11million for Crouch who has one year on his contract and likely wouldnt sign another is a great deal.

Crouch was a great asset to have in the squad but he simply did not want to be a bit part player. Best for both sides that they have moved on.

Crouch wanted to go
11 mill is great consider he only had a year left and inter are offering like 7 or 8 for lamps

£11m for a striker with 1 year left on his contract, who isn’t happy, and above all can’t run very fast or head a ball?

Excellent deal for the reds.

Good player if you build a side round him, but Liverpool FC shouldn’t be pandering to Peter Crouch’s needs.

Redknapp has indeed got himself a bargain, as a staunch Liverpool fan for many years Crouch one player that no matter what should have got his chance. Yes he looks awkward, he’s not strong enough, perhaps he doesn’t have the “skills” to be in a forward line in a club of Liverpool’s stature; are all sound bites that have been thrown around since he broke into the game.

The undeniable fact is that Crouch for all his lack of supposed ability is in my opinion one of the most effective players in world football. Staggering to say but let’s look at another player of Liverpool’s recent history, Milan Baros.

Milan the “Czech Michael Owen” was never a prolific striker at club level scoring 19 goals in 68 appearances. However, at international level, 31 goals in 59 appearances tells of a very different scenario; one that cannot exclude his strike partner Jan Koller.

Koller at 2.02 m is a centimetre taller than Crouch but is able to use his height and strength to fashion chances for himself and others. Crouch whilst possessing none of Koller’s strength has a piece to his armoury that makes him far more of a potent weapon, his touch.

The often trod “he’s got good touch for a big man” is a cheap shot at Crouch who’s touch and ability to link play to an on rushing midfield is second to none in the premiership. Indeed Steven Gerrard’s has himself testified that many of his goals from midfield in previous seasons would not have been carved out without Crouch.

Why the staggering statement that Crouch is “one of the most effective players in world football”. Well you simply have to mark him closely both in the air and on the ground; you have to shut down his ability to bring other “better” players into the game. So in the air you need two players on him one in front and behind, which realistically frees up another player.

In the modern game where space is at a premium, Crouch creates those options for the team; it baffled me to the point of exasperation that Benitez did not use him to free Torres to create more havoc than he did. However, if you allow Crouch the space he will hurt you; note his hatrick against Arsenal, each goal different in execution. Furthermore, whilst it may look comical, how many players have the technique to perform a scissor kick with quite the accuracy that Crouch has displayed over and over again?

Harry has got himself a bargain for not only the player but for the team. Crouch creates more problems for the various defensive strategies strewn across the Premiership, he may not have the pace but leave that up to Defoe or Utaka or any number of players.

We as a footballing public are caught up in how many stepovers a player can do; not what a player brings to a team. Would England have won the World Cup without the panache of Moore or the gritty effective of Nobby Stiles, in short, No. The game is decided by goals not skill, sure skill makes the difference but when defences are organised you need something, someone to change the landscape and Crouch is the over powering skyscraper of world football

Crouch’s height, touch and eye for goal on the pitch means that defences have to shape up to him, change their week in week out sturdy organisation to accommodate the problems he uniquely causes. If they don’t then it will either be him or the players that he invites to express themselves that will.

MR.Tim Wigmore please know what you are writing sbout before you write :), Rafa didn’t want to sell Crouchie as a matter off fact he offerd him a new contract extension but Crouch wanted to leave cause he KNEW that he’s not going to playin every week..

utter garbage, so you’re assuming lfc will not progress on last year and that crouch would have done a better job than torres? come on, even voronin has a higher strike rate per chances created. crouch if anything owes benitez for his faith when you mindless media morons were abusing him during his drought!!! fact is crouch is a utility striker and harks back to the days of cascarino and quinn which is where most lfc fans dont want to be. you also seem to forget that crouch is possibly the worst player in the air an constantly broke down lfc attacks due to fouling defenders…do some actual research

it was not a lack of faith in crouch, kuyt can play a number of roles out wide and can link up with torres, crouch can only play one role, which is where the best striker in the world plays. kuyt is a better player than crouch and is more useful in liverpools current formation. dont forget as well the stick benitez got for signing crouch in the first place! crouch owes rafa his career

[...] were to finally mount a convincing challenge on the Premier League. Andriy Voronin, Dirk Kuyt and Peter Crouch all failed to form a partnership with Torres of the calibre he formed with David Villa during [...]