DIRK THE WINGER?

I was impressed by the much maligned striker against Inter.
Playing as a right winger, or an old fashioned inside right, he looked the part.
Being a striker himself, Dirk knows how he wants a ball delivered into the box, and he whipped in a handful of devilish balls which any forward worth his salt should have been feasting on.
The position also allows him to storm in from the right when balls are swung over into the box, and gives us a presence at the far post.
Plus, there's his prodigious work rate which certainly makes any rampaging full back think twice before bombing on down the touchline.

It was a slot he occupied for his national team in the World Cup in Germany, before we signed him, and I must confess I thought he was lost there.
Van Nistelrooy was first choice up top, and it seemed the only place they could accommodate Dirk was on the wing.
Perhaps at club level, where endeavour, desire, and ruggedness is sometimes a more prized commodity than flair, the former Feyenoord man can get away with it.
But the boy did well against Inter.
Whether we keep hold of Dirk is another matter all together, but Benitez may have hit upon a role for his struggling Dutchman until the end of the season at least.