???️ 9 YEARS SINCE CROUCH LEFT LIVERPOOL

Peter Crouch left Liverpool 9 years ago today, and so we’re going to take a look back at his time with Liverpool, hopefully bringing back some fond memories of the big man, as well as Liverpool back in the day. Let’s begin with where it started. The Englishman signed for Liverpool from Southampton on the 20.07.05 for £7 million. Crouch was 24 at the time and was through and though a target man. Throughout his career he’s been known as ???2 meter Peter’, due to him being 6ft. 7ins. Not the type of Player Liverpool would be after these days, especially after Benteke. Crouch is also known as a bit of a comedian, with some fantastic twitter banter, he’s also famously quoted as saying “Had I not been a footballer, I think I would have been a virgin”. Crouch can also be seen as a journeyman player, having played for 10 teams, one of which, was Swedish outfit IFK Hässleholm, where Crouch played 8 times, scoring 3 goals. Moving on however, Crouch’s Liverpool career started poorly, he came under intense media scrutiny, due to the fact he went 19 games without scoring. To put that into context, that’s 4 months and over 24 hours of football for the reds, without scoring. However despite not scoring, he was praised for his other attributes, the media dubbed him ???Crouchinho’ due to his touch, a common phrase used when taking about Crouch is ???good touch for a big lad’. His goal drought finally came to an end on the 3rd December, vs Wigan, with Crouch scoring twice in the game. Crouch only managed to bag a handful of goals in his first season with Liverpool, however, he did manage to provide a crucial assist to Gerrard in the 2006 FA Cup final vs West Ham, which Liverpool won on penalties after the game ended 3-3. In Crouch’s second season at Anfield, he began to grow in confidence over his abilities, his first goal of the 2006/07 season came in the FA Community shield, Crouch scored a header, which ended up being the winning goal vs Chelsea. During a game vs Sheffield United in February 2007, Crouch suffered a broken nose, which eventually needed surgery on the 9th March, Crouch returned on the 31st in a game vs Arsenal, in which he scored a ???perfect’ hat trick, getting a goal with his head, left foot and right foot. Crouch also made an appearance in the 2007 Champions League final, coming on for Mascherano, however couldn’t make an impact as Liverpool lost 2-1 vs Milan. Revenge for 2005. Despite the disappointment of the final, for Crouch the season was a successful one as he ended as the reds top scorer, scoring 18 times in all competitions. However going into the 2007/ 08 season, Torres signed for Liverpool and so chances became more limited, however he scored the first and last goals as Liverpool beat Besiktas 8-0 in the Champions League. On December 19th, Crouch received a straight red card after a challenge on John Obi Mikel, during the Champions League quarter finals vs Chelsea. Crouch’s final goal for the reds came on the 26th April 2008, scoring in Liverpools 1-1 draw vs Arsenal. This result was vital in helping Liverpool securing 4th over their Merseyside counterparts Everton. On 7th July 2008, Crouch re-signed for Portsmouth, 6 years after leaving. The transfer fee was £9 million. The main reasons that Crouch left Liverpool were due to the arrival of Torres, who subsequently pushed Crouch out of the team, due to him being world class. Another issue was that Crouch was a specialist striker, due to his height it limited Liverpool’s style of play. Although nonetheless I feel that Crouch was a bit of a fan favourite. Appearing 134 times for the reds and scoring 42 times. Crouch also played 42 games for England between 2005-2010, he had a brilliant international record, netting 22 goals. Now aged 36, Crouch is still playing at the top level with Stoke City, where he’s been since 2011, he’s played over 170 times for the Potters and scored over 40 goals. He’s not one of Liverpools greats, however a standout striker due to his height and technique, also for his top draw banter.