Rafa to use Crouch height advantage

Rafa knows Peter Crouch will be a dangerman against Betis. The Seville side have a small defence and there will be only one winner if high balls are played into the box. The situation reminds me of when we used to play against Everton with small centrebacks and Duncan Ferguson caused us havoc:

"It will be difficult for the Betis defenders on Tuesday. In Spain, the central defenders are under 6 foot. It's very difficult for them against a player like Crouch. "He will give us a different option. If we need another solution we can play him. He is not a player who fights for the ball, he likes to play football. "Crouch will be important for us in England but I want to see him play in Europe. We are talking about a quality player. He's a target man who can keep the ball, play well, can head the ball and give the team time to go forward. "I have a friend, a Spanish coach, who watched him in our training sessions pre-season and he said to me afterwards 'That Crouch is a very good player'. "That was after just one training session. He was even impressed with his movement in the warm-up. "And he can improve. We will work with him. Maybe he needs some weight training but already he has the technique, the ability and the intelligence."

Crouch is already a handful. Imagine how dangerous he could be if he puts some meat on those bones.

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