An unseemly comparison for this Liverpool star?

He’s a striker from ‘up north’ who now resides on Merseyside where he plays for his current club, after representing the black and white of Newcastle United, becoming something of a cult figure in the process. He’s ‘enjoyed’ something of a colourful off-field reputation, which has all but added to his fearsome on-field status where he could regularly be seen bullying defenders with his sheer physical presence and tremendous aerial ability. You could be forgiven for thinking this describes the former Scotland and Everton legend Duncan Ferguson, but it doesn’t; this player isn’t a pigeon fancier. It describes Liverpool’s current number-9 Andy Carroll, and you can see why the comparisons between the two are often made, which begs the question: Is Andy Carroll just Duncan Ferguson in disguise?

Carroll has grown accustomed to the comparison for quite some time now, leading him to insist ‘Don’t call me Duncan!’ not long after his move to Merseyside from the North-East. Although aware of the tremendous similarities between himself and the Scot, he is often keen to point out that his game is modelled on another striking legend at Newcastle; Alan Shearer, and hopes that he can forge a reputation as not just a fearsome player, but rather a fearsome goalscorer. ‘Everyone compares me to Duncan Ferguson now but I wasn’t always tall. I wasn’t a target man’ stated Carroll, before continuing: ‘So I used to watch Shearer more than I did Ferguson. He was unbelievable. I think he scored half with his feet as well as his headers and think I’m capable of doing that as well.’

However both he and Ferguson both seem to be cut from the same cloth, certainly on the pitch, in representing something of a throw-back player. The old-school type of centre-forward from the English top-flight, were these front-men used to bully their centre-back markers rather than the other way around. Often less prolific than other types of strikers, they were handfuls for their opponents and were often used to ‘battering-ram’ effect with their physical prowess.

That’s not to say that Carroll and Ferguson are identical players. Although standing at 6ft 3” and 6ft 4” respectively, Carroll still has some way to go to match Ferguson’s consistent aerial domination, and physically there are signs he needs to toughen-up more. It led former Everton manager Howard Kendall to recently note he felt the young Geordie goes to ground too easily when challenged by defenders whilst reminiscing that if Ferguson collided with a defender, it would be the defender who was left on the turf. So for sheer intense aggression, Ferguson had no equal. Not that that was always a good thing, as the Scot’s nine red cards shows.

It would do both players a disservice only talk about their aerial abilities as their heads where far from their only weapons (though Ferguson liked to use his as a weapon in more ways than one!). Carroll, and ‘Big Dunc’ shared another similarity – both are left-footers, although Carroll’s seems to use his in a far more explosive manner possessing a cannon-like shot, whereas the Scot’s use was more subtle in control and link-up play. Carroll’s first-touch and link-play needs to improve in order to take his game onto the next level, although a few minor injuries have hampered his new Liverpool career thus far. Injuries where something that blighted Ferguson’s career throughout his time on Merseyside, so often did he seem to occupy the treatment table it gave rise to a rival chant: ‘In for a week, out for a month, Duncan is a …..’ I’ll let you fill in the blank! The red half of Merseyside hope the same niggly injuries don’t befall Carroll’s career.

Carroll and Ferguson seems a straightforward comparison on the face of it, but scratch the surface and it’s bordering on the slightly lazy if also a little unfair. Look into their games and there are many differences, however the biggest factor is when talking about Carroll, we are still talking about a 22-year old who has been thrust into the intense media spotlight caused by his over-inflated price-tag due to his massive potential. We are not talking about the finished article here – which Ferguson was. In saying that, if Carroll would like to be known as more of a ‘Shearer’ type striker, he will find that until he becomes prolific in the goalscoring department, his physical attributes and price-tag will continue to overshadow everything else.

He may not go on to be as fearsome as Ferguson was to defenders, but he certainly has the potential to be a more fearsome goalscorer than the Scot ever was – and that counts for a whole lot more in football.

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Written by jimmyareabi for FootballFanCast.com

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