How often have you heard it said “he’s got good touch for a big man”?

As if it is impossible for anyone over 6ft to be anything other than a clumsy, uncoordinated oaf struggling to tie his own shoelaces?

He’s a skilful player. Period.

The appalling treatment he initially received at the hands (and voices) of the England ‘fans’, basically for the crime of being very tall, was typical of the prejudice he has had to fight all his career.

As his goals turned the England crowd around, forcing them to look towards Stamford Bridge for their obligatory boo boy, still the pundits cast doubts on his achievements, slyly noting that his goals had come against the likes of Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Greece, Andorra etc, as if scoring against this opposition didn’t really ‘count’.

What they failed to notice was that (a) this was a pretty long list, and growing, and (b) nobody else was filling their boots against this supposedly insignificant opposition.

Given his undoubted improvement, many fans and observers were baffled by Rafa’s seeming reluctance to trust Crouch last season, and indeed towards the end of the previous season.

Looking back, Benitez’s decision to start with Dirk Kuyt as the spearhead of the attack in the Athens Champions League Final, calling on Crouch only for the last 10 minutes when we were 2-0 down, was the beginning of the end for Peter.

The arrival of Torres confirmed his apparent demotion, with the manager apparently reluctant to pair the two together for any games of consequence.

Unreasonably, Rafa seems to think that his initial support of Crouch during his goal-less start should be repaid by a willingness to play a supporting role for the prime years of his career; in these days of footballing mercenaries, it’s to his credit that Crouchy has opted for first-team football instead.