There was so much to talk about after the Manchester United versus Liverpool game yesterday. United looking like champions. Mascherano behaving like a spoilt child. Steve Bennett behaving like an old style school master. Ronaldo scoring goal number 34. Rooney looking good. Gerrard not really performing. Ferdinand giving a defensive masterclass on how to nullify Torres. Reina varying between brilliant and abysmal. Having said all that, there was one question that struck me more than any other. Why is Dirk Kuyt a premier league footballer?

I often hear it said when Kuyt is being criticised that he is 'a trier'. I hear that he works really hard and that he gives 'everything for the team'. For £50,000 a week I reckon most of us would try and work really hard for ninety minutes each week!

We shouldn't forget that Liverpool paid £9 million for this player with much talk of him being a goalscoring sensation and the new Dalgleish/Rush/Aldridge/Fowler/Owen etc, etc. His fourteen goals last season and nine in a total of forty appearances so far this season have not really helped him live up to his billing.

As an outsider, apart from being 'a trier' I cannot see one single thing that Kuyt brings to the Liverpool team. He is one of the reasons that Liverpool can't dislodge the top three. How many players at Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea are described as 'triers' or 'hard working'? The answer is, all of them. They are all very hard working but they have immense talent as well. If Kuyt has the talent, he is keeping it well hidden.

I understand that Kuyt has had a difficult time in his private life and I have huge sympathy for him in that regard. I also understand that he is a good footballer and if my beloved Watford signed him I would be very pleased. But that is the problem. Watford are a decent Championship side or a struggling Premiership side. To me, that is the level that Kuyt should be playing at. He would be a decent striker for Wigan or Birmingham or Sunderland or West Brom. At that level his hard work would make a difference. In the top four, it is totally out of place.

As a neutral I just can't understand why Kuyt is picked in the team week in week out whilst others have been rotated. Does Benitez really think Kuyt is one of their best players? What does Benitez think Kuyt brings to the team?

Can any Liverpool fans explain what he does that makes him a regular? I'd love to know.