His big frame meant he did not leave defenders for dead and neither was he known for his dribbling skills. But he could be a defenders nightmare, his uncanny ability with aerial balls leaving defenders gasping, illustrated nicely when he put Arsenal’s defence to bed while playing for Newcastle. These are at best what an average player tends to be, not someone who can command suitors huge sums of money. But the card that skyrocketed his price was the fact that he was British.
Homegrown players come at a premium, and the biggest premium is often reserved for the strikers. For Carroll, born, bred and buttered in England, the writing was always on the wall. Newcastle are known for being tough negotiators, and with Carroll being a homegrown, it was widely anticipated that Newcastle would always pocket a big sum if he were ever to be sold.
The recent trend of new, young, proactive managers with their philosophies being a hybrid of the Barcelona model of passing football, it was feared that the old school big traditional No 9 would die, giving way to short, nimble false nines and nines, those tricky customers with low centre of gravity, able to pass and pass the ball until it finds the back of the net. Carroll faced a similar fate at Liverpool, where Brendan Rodgers and his well-documented passing principles sidelined Big Andy.
Carroll wasn’t good on the ball and tended to react far too slowly, and stuck out like a sore thumb in the passing metronome that featured the silky Luis Suarez. But still, he had his moments; the FA Cup semifinal winner against Everton stands out, and had enough of them to convince Sam Allardyce and the West Ham hierarchy to part with a record sum of money to land the Geordie.
Carroll could bring back the dying breed of traditional No 9s to the game again; he could be the start of a revolution that success can also be brought about by playing big centre forwards and target men instead of auxiliary strikers and Messi-esque players. His British roots definitely stirs up his price, as young British stars are rare and clubs want to pocket as much money as they can if they sell one, given the pathetic state of English football.
But injuries have blighted Andy’s career thus far. He was never going to be one like the aforementioned Beardsley or Kevin Keegan of a striker. His limited ability on the ball meant he was always going to be a target man rather than a floating playmaker-cum-forward of the Ibrahimovic mould. And now at West Ham, he has found himself in the safe hands of Sam Allardyce, known for his physical football and percentage play. Carroll would thrive on the service he will receive at West Ham, both from the wide men and the players playing off him. He will be the focal point of the team, much like in his Newcastle days, and if he could make the best of this opportunity, we could soon see him as one of the most feared strikers in the game, and maybe, we would see yet another record transfer featuring Carroll.
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