Jordan Henderson remains a player that divides the opinion of not only Liverpool fans but even those with just a casual interest in football. He’s cost £16m up front with potential add-ons of £4m. For a 21 year-old that’s versatile, pacy and intelligent, that doesn’t appear to be too far off the mark.
Henderson is hampered not by his price tag, but of other people’s preconceptions about him. He’s a subtle player with great vision and decent distribution. When you factor in the English premium, the price, while obviously over the top considering his relative inexperience, isn’t as far as, say, Downing’s is for me personally. He’s simply not the match-winning mini-Gerrard the media have often made him out to be, but that shouldn’t detract from the player he currently is and could be.
Carroll is the truly troubling one, though. Admittedly, he has been hampered by injuries since his arrival, but the side are in danger of leaving him behind. In his absence, Luis Suarez has struck up a good understanding with the rest of his new team mates and they appear to operate best in a fluid 4-5-1 formation without the Geordie front man.
While it is still far too early to label Carroll a flop, considering the circumstances, he does look to be rather leggy and a lot easier to bully off the ball than he did in his Newcastle pomp. He represents a pressing concern, particularly given the huge outlay on him, but there is still plenty of time for him to come good.
Sebastien Coates arrives with a burgeoning reputation within the game following his exploits with Uruguay in their successful bid to win the Copa America. He will take time to settle and adjust to the pace of the league, but so long as people are patient with him, at £6m, his potential is enormous.
Craig Bellamy could just prove to be the bargain of the entire transfer window. Adaptable to several different roles and formations, his spirit and pace are a great asset to have in the armoury.
John Henry is indeed correct, it is strange for a club to be criticised for over-spending. No other club in the Premier League would ever be accused of something so cynical. When you analyse the team’s squad since the NESV came into ownership of the club, then it has without question improved significantly.
On the issue of whether the club has overpaid, purely on a transfer by transfer basis, like any club, they have for some players and haven’t for others. Carroll and Downing remain the two players that I’d personally be keeping an eye on although others will contest Henderson should be in there too.
Buying players based on solely on potential is an inherently risky business. With the new rules coming into force about the number of home-grown and English players eligible for each Premier League club’s 25-man squad, the change in emphasis is understandable.
NESV have a long-term ambition for the club, which includes speculating on potential. Not every transfer will come off and they will overpay for some in the process, just like they have done so already. But as with every rebuilding process, mistakes will be made, but what is most important is patience and the belief that they’ll get more things right than wrong. So far, Comolli and Dalglish appear to have subscribed to this view.
You can follow me on Twitter @JamesMcManus1
Written by james McManus for FootballFanCast.com
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Promote Kenny Dalglish as Director Of Football and appoint Frank Rijkaard As NEW LIVERPOOL MANAGER!!!
please don’t!
Carrol what a waste of money and Henderson 55m and sitting on the bench what a total waste of money kenny
No it isn’t. Too soon to make this kind of determination!
Impatience rules!
The only difference between a benched Carroll or Voronin is that one cost £35mln while the other was free but on the pitch they make the same contribution, they both watched the game from a box seat on the pitch.
Give the kid a moment. You might yet eat your words on Andy!
kopking shut the fuck up you dont know if they are a waste of mone yet look how long it took berbatov at united etc so shut the fuck up and akash you can go and fuck yourself you clearly know fuck all about football dalglish is a much better manager than rikjaard 3 league titles 2 fa cups- with liverpool as manager premier league title with blackburn -as manager and avereges of a top 3 inish throughout his short managerial career but no your right im sure rikjaard has won many english league titles and before you go on about spanish cups champions league guess what prick he was managing barcelona anyone would look good managing them even hodgson so fuck off you little fool im getting fed up of foreign morons like you doubting dalglish when you clearly know fuck all about him
Amen !!
Voronin was a better player than Caroll.He generally don’t always fell down when collapsing with other players.You could see Caroll is very very Big like John barnes Late games.So kk must pick a whip now and beat caroll like a horse to lose the fattest player in lfc.
You sound like a 10 year old manc! Mate…
Your forgetting that the net spend could be reduced further with the sale of Aquilani and Cole. Downing has been disappointing. Statistically he has produced 0 goals 0 assists. I have optimism on Carroll though. I truly believe he can come good. Players usually show up around 23, thats when they are really in the zone. But most of them fall before that because of the support and pressure of fans that keep jumping on their back. Look at United, I don’t see the same pressure on their youngsters as I do with Liverpool’s and they are the defending champs. Sure they look better than Livepool’s youngsters, but anyone can see that Carroll and Henderson are low on confidence, they need support!
We Spend roughly close to 100 mil for players. My fear is, what if that is the only money that the owners are going to spend then We are stuck with bunch of average players. Personally i think the American owners do not have the money to compete with the big teams. So the chance of getting the title back to Liverpool is really slim even our players dont believe it (Suarez). If we dont make it to top 4 then we are in trouble.
Reading these messages are making me chuckle because we are only 8 games into the season! Spurs aside, we have done well. The players have to gel and that can take time, unless you’re constantly buying in the top bracket of players like man city. We have beaten Arsenal (away) and drawn with Man Utd. We beat Everton (away) too! We could have easily knicked all the points against united at the death – Kuyt’s chance, Hendo twice. Yeah, we should beat Stoke all day long, but they are a good, organised team, especially at home. Carroll and Downing were pricey, but I guess the theory is to supply Andy with crosses. I’m sure it will all come together, especially with Enrique marauding up the left wing too. Gerrard is like a new signing now too. Hope he can stay fit!!! His name on our teamsheet will lift all our players before a match. Chillax fellow kopites! We are well on course for top 4, and then the door opens up for the top players, doesn’t it…….
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