Thursday, March 28, 2024

Why is Peter Crouch so underrated?

peter-crouchI’ve never been the biggest fan of Tottenham striker Peter Crouch, but he’s starting to win me over. I don’t know what it is about the big striker that got under my skin, maybe it’s because he used to play for Liverpool or maybe it’s his gangly appearance that annoyed me. I just couldn’t take to him.

Image

My dad, who’s not exactly the biggest football fan, once made an observation on the former Portsmouth striker while watching an England match. He remarked “Peter Crouch looks just like Bambi on ice”.

I believe that was a cruel observation at the time. However his appearance sometimes hides his actual ability to play football. To use a cliché, Peter Crouch has very good touch for a big man. He not only scores goals with his head as expected for a tall striker, he’s also very good with the ball at his feet. He’s a good target man and can bring others into play. His technical ability sometimes belies his size.

Impact

A lot of the games I’ve seen him play for England the big striker has had a big impact on the game. Most of those games he’s came off the bench to impress. That’s the problem for Crouch; he’s regarded as just an impact player.

It’s very rare that he gets a place in the starting line-up for the Three Lions. Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is the obvious number one striker but there’s room for a second striker in Fabio Capello’s thinking, as the Italian proved by selecting Jermain Defoe in the last game against Egypt. His Tottenham colleague had an ineffective half against Egypt and was replaced by Crouch.

Scoring

The beanpole striker has a superb scoring record for his country. He now has 20 goals in 37 appearances for his country. That’s a strike rate that any international striker would be proud of, let alone a striker who spends most of his time on the substitute bench. He is a goal scorer and shouldn’t he be ahead of the non-scoring Emile Heskey as the target man in the England side?

Personality

Much like Heskey, Crouch seems like an easy going guy. From his time at Liverpool, I know that nobody had a bad word to say about him. He also didn’t have a bad word to say about anybody else. Unlike some of his England colleagues he lives his life mostly out of the media spotlight, despite dating a model.

His fiancée is apparently a catwalk and lingerie model, who he started dating while at Liverpool. This would make his personal life hard to keep out of the media gaze but Crouch to his credit has kept himself to himself and just got on with doing what he does best and thats playing football.

Chances

Crouch needs to get back into the Tottenham first team if he is going to book a place on the plane for South Africa. He’s currently being kept out of the Tottenham starting line-up by fellow England striker Jermain Defoe and in-form Russian hot shot Roman Pavlyuchenko.

England boss Fabio Capello only picks players who are playing for their club side and who are in form. Peter Crouch has done his chances a world of good with his goals and performance against Egypt.

He now just has to hope that he does get back into the Tottenham team and he scores the goals to catch the Italian coaches’ eye. Although I have criticised Crouch in the past I’m really starting to hope that he makes that 23 man squad for the World Cup, as it couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Nugent


David is a freelance football writer with nearly a decade of experience writing about the beautiful game. The experienced writer has written for over a dozen websites and also an international soccer magazine offline.
Arguably his best work has come as an editorial writer for Soccernews, sharing his good, bad and ugly opinions on the world’s favourite sport. During David’s writing career he has written editorials, betting previews, match previews, banter, news and opinion pieces.

SHARE OR COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE

WE RECOMMEND

  • Brad

    0 0

    I’m more of a mix: flashy, skilful player/hard running+tackling, work ethic. And Crouchy is more of just the latter.

  • Luis Palomino

    0 0

    Crouch is just a goofy player I dont like he’s style of play im more of Cristiano Player !

  • Brad

    0 0

    ok. . . I play with a bunch of mexicans in my area, along with a few Brazilians (who taught me how to do the bicycle) and Italians (where i learned defense) I’ve never played against English guys before, whether at youth club level or for the U.S. youth teams. . . though that’s a good thing, as I dont wanna play against other tree trunks just like me and Crouch.

  • gooner-11

    0 0

    sorry, well, i was referring to Peter Crouch’s racism probe a couple years back for implying that foreign players in the premier league cheat or something like that.
    i put racism in “quotes” because i dont necessarily believe that it was racism – probably more of a journalist interpretation… honestly i play with mostly non-white fellas who almost always mention it when crouch comes up. i regret to have brought this conversation here…

  • David Nugent

    0 0

    What racist stuff gooner?

  • Brad

    0 0

    what racist stuff. big difference between me and Scholsey- he’s a pro, I’m not. . . yet- he’s a red head (nothing wrong with that, I just have really dark hair), and he prolly would only come up to my shoulder. but he could still own me with a header.

  • gooner-11

    0 0

    surprised no mention of his “racist” comments

  • Ali Ezzedine

    0 0

    LOL you better off being like Scholsey – I just luv the guy ! gr8 goal tonight !

  • Brad

    0 0

    well, i can do some of the rap moves we have here in the U.S., and have even incorporated them into some football tricks :), but none of the older stuff like the robot. . . i just dont pay much attention for that.

  • David Nugent

    0 0

    Oh well, I prefer Scholesy over Crouch, although like I say my opinion on the big man is changing. Everybody can dance Brad, just move with the beat!

  • Brad

    0 0

    haha!!! I never learned how to dance, I have two left feet! No, while everyone calls me Peter Crouch, I play more like Scholesy.

  • David Nugent

    0 0

    I thought you were going to say the only difference between you and Crouch is that you dance! lol

  • Brad

    0 0

    Only difference between me and Robo Crouch is that I’m not all that good with headers, even though I’m almost as tall as him!! I’m much better at being like Paul Scholes, when he scores on the volley from outside the 18 yard box.

  • Brad

    0 0

    beanpole fits my description too. . . in fact, my high school (real, not american) football team players call me Peter Crouch, in fact.

    Thing is, super subs like Crouchinho (ironic nickname) cant stay like that forever. They HAVE to start in games eventually. If they are good enough to be called super subs, they are good enough to start.

  • Chelsea FC Fan

    0 0

    lol @ ‘Beanpole’…that pic sure fits the description.

    I think we need to get comfortable with Crouch as a super-sub…he’s been at his best coming off the bench and I don’t see how that can harm anyone…it seems like he feeds off that underdog image…

  • Chelsea FC Fan

    0 0

    lol @ ‘Beanpole’…that pic sure fits the description.

    I think we need to get comfortable with Crouch as a super-sub…he’s been at his best coming off the bench and I don’t see how that can harm anyone…it seems like he feeds off that underdog image…

  • Brad

    0 0

    beanpole fits my description too. . . in fact, my high school (real, not american) football team players call me Peter Crouch, in fact.

    Thing is, super subs like Crouchinho (ironic nickname) cant stay like that forever. They HAVE to start in games eventually. If they are good enough to be called super subs, they are good enough to start.

  • Brad

    0 0

    Only difference between me and Robo Crouch is that I’m not all that good with headers, even though I’m almost as tall as him!! I’m much better at being like Paul Scholes, when he scores on the volley from outside the 18 yard box.

  • David Nugent

    0 0

    I thought you were going to say the only difference between you and Crouch is that you dance! lol

  • Brad

    0 0

    haha!!! I never learned how to dance, I have two left feet! No, while everyone calls me Peter Crouch, I play more like Scholesy.

  • David Nugent

    0 0

    Oh well, I prefer Scholesy over Crouch, although like I say my opinion on the big man is changing. Everybody can dance Brad, just move with the beat!

  • Brad

    0 0

    well, i can do some of the rap moves we have here in the U.S., and have even incorporated them into some football tricks :), but none of the older stuff like the robot. . . i just dont pay much attention for that.

  • Ali Ezzedine

    0 0

    LOL you better off being like Scholsey – I just luv the guy ! gr8 goal tonight !

  • gooner-11

    0 0

    surprised no mention of his “racist” comments

  • Brad

    0 0

    what racist stuff. big difference between me and Scholsey- he’s a pro, I’m not. . . yet- he’s a red head (nothing wrong with that, I just have really dark hair), and he prolly would only come up to my shoulder. but he could still own me with a header.

  • David Nugent

    0 0

    What racist stuff gooner?

  • gooner-11

    0 0

    sorry, well, i was referring to Peter Crouch’s racism probe a couple years back for implying that foreign players in the premier league cheat or something like that.
    i put racism in “quotes” because i dont necessarily believe that it was racism – probably more of a journalist interpretation… honestly i play with mostly non-white fellas who almost always mention it when crouch comes up. i regret to have brought this conversation here…

  • Brad

    0 0

    ok. . . I play with a bunch of mexicans in my area, along with a few Brazilians (who taught me how to do the bicycle) and Italians (where i learned defense) I’ve never played against English guys before, whether at youth club level or for the U.S. youth teams. . . though that’s a good thing, as I dont wanna play against other tree trunks just like me and Crouch.

  • Luis Palomino

    0 0

    Crouch is just a goofy player I dont like he’s style of play im more of Cristiano Player !

  • Brad

    0 0

    I’m more of a mix: flashy, skilful player/hard running+tackling, work ethic. And Crouchy is more of just the latter.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This field is required *

Join the conversation!

or Register

Live Scores

advertisement

Betting Guide Advertisement

advertisement

Become a Writer
More More
Top