I don’t usually take too much stock in online polls, after all, they tend only to reflect fan allegiance to whatever club or player is most popular and there’s no reason to believe any informed or proactive thought have gone into fans’ decision making process. Every now and then however you run into something that offers a little insight into how opposition fans feel and that runs counter to the usual partisan nature of these polls.
Take this poll on Not606, regarding which striker Liverpool should sign this January. With a choice of six, Edinson Cavani and Lukas Podolski have proven to be the most popular. Unsurprising choices really. Cavani is arguably the best striker outside the Premier League and Podolski is a natural goal scoring talent who won’t cost them an arm and a leg.
The other choices, Soldado, Hulk and ‘Other’ haven’t proven to be as attractive an option to Liverpool fans, who have clearly focused on those two bigger names.
Rather surprisingly, however, 37.93% of Liverpool fans voted that Liverpool should stick with Andy Carroll. When you consider that only 31% of fans voted to bring Cavani to the club, I’d say that’s a pretty definitive seal of approval for The Ponytailed One.
When we’re so used to seeing fans clamouring for transfers, it’s heart-warming to see Liverpool supporters opting to stand by their man. This may well be because they want to see some return on the £35m that their club splashed out last January, but it’s more likely because they’re desperate for Andy to prove that he’s not a flop.
There remains the fear at Anfield that Carroll will continue to struggle until he develops a reputation similar to that of Fernando Torres at Chelsea. If Liverpool were to sign anybody else this January, Andy Carroll would find himself even more frozen out and that could be it for his Liverpool career.
For me it makes more sense for Liverpool to attempt to make the most of their £35m signing rather than attempt to bring in new blood. A new signing may work well initially, but as soon as Luis Suarez returned from his ban, somebody would be forced to bide their time on the sidelines and it could create an uncomfortable situation.
It’s time for Liverpool to stop looking to the transfer market to solve their problems and start making their system work around their star players. Andy Carroll certainly has the ability to be one of the Premier League’s best strikers, but whether he’ll pull this off is dependent on whether Liverpool offer him more time.
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