You would think that any player with a £35million price tag is a certain starter. Many eyebrows were raised following Andy Carroll’s arrival from Newcastle, despite his undoubted potential. For the latter part of the 2010-2011 season, Carroll was blighted by injury in a red shirt, limiting him to sporadic appearances. Fast forward to this month and Carroll has come through a pre-season campaign unscathed and is fully fit. But it’s not been all plain sailing.
In the first league match of the season, Luis Suarez ran rings around the Sunderland defence before understandably tiring after a summer of brilliance for Uruguay at the Copa America. Carroll was unable to provide the same spark as his strike partner and as Suarez became less effective, Liverpool’s threat diminished.
The following league game saw Carroll start as a lone striker against Arsenal, but yet again it was the introduction of Suarez that changed the game – forcing a mistake for the first goal and scoring the second.
Liverpool’s best performance of the season came in the most recent league game against Bolton. Dalglish decided to leave Andy Carroll on the bench, preferring a two-pronged attack of Luis Suarez and Dirk Kuyt – a partnership which worked brilliantly in the second half of the 2010-2011 season.
The fluidity of Liverpool’s attacking play was mesmerising at times, as Stewart Downing often drifted off the left wing, Dirk Kuyt dropped deep and Luis Suarez drew defenders out of position with his menacing movement.
Without Andy Carroll on the pitch, the team didn’t rely on the easy option of hitting it long to the target man and were encouraged instead into playing more patiently.
When Carroll entered the game, with the scoreline already at 3-0, he looked sluggish. On one such occasion, Stewart Downing – who had yet another superb game – whipped in a delightful cross for the Geordie to attack, but he was caught on his heels and got nowhere near the ball.
In the absence of Luis Suarez’s darting runs, Liverpool suddenly looked a more one-dimensional and predictable team.
By all means, Andy Carroll is an excellent centre-forward. He will score many goals for Liverpool this season and in seasons to come, but from the evidence seen thus far, a Kuyt-Suarez strike pairing looks far more potent.
Written by Kristian Johnson for OurKop.com.
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Or have a look at the ten strikers that we think will lead the race for the Golden Boot next season
i think he is a good player and is a reeal threat in the air and on the ground , and i still stand by my desicion from the first day we bought him he is not worth 35 MILL :/
I agree 100%
Kuyt and Suarez look the business, but I think Carroll will still have a big part to play this season……..
Why keep writing dross like this? We’re a developing team and early season everyone wants flair and attacking excitement. Leagues are won like that, just look at Arsenal. Leagues are won by grinding out wins old cold afternoons in January and tough away midweek games. Carroll will be perfect for that. He will come good and once fully fit and up to speed, he’ll be far more effective.
Well said Jack. Every freaking day there’s another 20 billion articles on why ‘Andy Carroll isn’t good enough’ or on some other player deemed not good enough by some knee-jerk reactionary blogger.
We get it, Suarez is blooming marvellous, but you need a plan B and C to win games. Heaven forbid he got an injury or bit someone.
Give players a chance and maybe they’ll do well. Lucas? I don’t think gurning about them every fart’s end really helps that much… Nice to see Adam and Henderson in part stemming this tide of festering ‘you’re not good enough’ bilge that was aimed at them since they joined. Keep er lit lads.
Article is just pointing out the facts and asking the question all non-rose spectacled Liverpool supporters are asking. What is our best forward pairing and on the evidence so far the resounding answer is Suarez and Kuyt. And if you can dispute that then I suggest you take off those glasses.
Exactly, back to Arsenal again, no plan B, no success. I’m sure sides will work out a way to slow Suarez down and when they do, we have a different option. You have to keep things fresh, keep teams guessing, Fergie does it, more so in midfield, but he plays horses for courses.
I hate how everyone focuses on the £35m pricetag. Yes we all know it’s a lot of money but it was always going to be.
a) The FAs rules have increased the prices of British players becasue each team needs so many so anyone wnating even a half decent player would have to pay more than the equivalent foreign player would cost.
b) Having just received £50m from Chelsea, Newcastle were always going to milk the transfer for as much money as possible
c) With the transfer taking place in the fanal few hours of the window there was very little room for negotiation.
Carroll has already shown he can play in the Premier League, the problem is everyone plays every ball to his head – and you can see his frustration at times, he wants it into his feet just as much. Just because he’s tall doesn’t mean whe have to make him header it all the time, he can strike the ball too – just look at the goal he scored against us last season.