Should We Keep Robbie?

3 games to go in the league, at most 2 more games in the FA Cup. That is the time frame for Robbie Fowler to earn a new contract at Anfield.

I believe the stats right now read 4 goals in 7 starts. It is a similar stat to what Fowler had when he was in Anfield for his first stint. It goes to show that when he plays for a club he loves, his strike-rate will never fail to show the efforts he puts in. In Leeds and Manchester City, he did have decent strike-rates for a bench-player, but the lack of consistency didn’t make his name glow like it should.

Also, there is this quality about Robbie Fowler which all great strikers have/should have. It is the fox-in-the-box quality. He is always lurking around in the penalty box, usually not picked up, and in the right place and time to slot the ball home. Van Nistelrooy, for such a big man, strangely has that same quality, and they go to show that these instincts bring goals.

I can name a few other prolific strikers with this quality – “Pipo” Inzaghi, Michael Owen, Andy Johnson, and the list goes on. Though Andy Johnson doesn’t play at a big club, I’m still a fan of his game. He scores prolifically for Crystal Palace in ever division he has played in. Don’t look down on a player from palace I can tell you his strike-rate is much better than a lot of highly paid strikers I know – (16goals/34games, 21/38, 32/47, 14/33 in seasons in reverse chronological order.)

But the subject of the matter is Robbie Fowler. He is the type of player every club needs. Someone to stay in the box, and not be picked out, and tap the ball home. He does score his spectacular once in a while to show his quality, but stats don’t lie – when you score the way he does, he know you got a quality player already. One reason I can think of that he didn’t score that many in Leeds and City is because of the lack of service. Like I said, he is the type of player who merely puts the ball in the net, rarely creating something for himself like a certain Thierry Henry. In Liverpool, he is getting the service he deserves from a creative midfield quartet of Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Kewell and Luis Garcia. Combine that with the pace of Cisse, or the ball-winning ability of Crouch, then Fowler is the man to complete the job.

His age is catching up with him though, he is no longer the fox-in-the-box we once knew when I first supported the club as a boy. He’s experience does count, but if Rafa can find a young talent with the qualities of Fowler, like he is good at doing, then by all means get the youngster instead. But Fowler would always be held in high regard personally, he is the reason I wear the number 9 on my jersey!

Source of pictures: pic1 - famousmales.com, pic2 - GettyImages