The biggest thing in football is money, we all know it. Peter Crouch comes close, Wayne Rooney’s vocabulary comes close, but money is what makes the game go round. Any owner of a club, such as Mr J W Henry, will want to see returns on their investments. Of course they would, that’s fair enough, but sometimes I do sit and ponder whether money hamstrings football too much. I’ve often heard it called moneyball, and there’s a lot of truth in this. When an owner invests a lot of money in a player, they expect that player to play, and when that player doesn’t play well, or doesn’t fit a system, then who has the ultimate say?
In a perfect world, the football man does. But as Rafa Benitez found out continually through his career, you can’t bite the hand that feeds you, or you’ll get a slap. When I watch Andy Carroll play, this quandary always pops into mind. I see the team change, our brainless defenders (Agger and Johnson excluded) see it as an easy way out, and I worry that because he’s the most expensive British player ever, ‘he has to play’.
Now, I know he’s young, and new, and I think he will score a lot of goals for Liverpool, but I would hope that the manager (presumably Dalglish) will have the power and sway to dictate the team’s style on a game-by-game basis. There will be some games where playing Carroll won’t be as effective. While I am sure he will improve as a player over the next few years, his style of play won’t. He will always be a target man, and not in the Drogba mould, because quite simply he lacks the pace.
Liverpool must concentrate on avoiding building a team solely to suit Andy Carroll, as has been mooted, but build a team based on a philosophy of good football, and ensure that Carroll fits that philosophy. Lots of chit-chat and conjecture has bandied about the airwaves and internet-waves [cit] about buying wingers for Carroll. If that was to be our ‘aim’ then we would be seriously undermining our chances of long-term success. Carroll is still an unknown quantity. He has raw assets that should be exploited, and a good crosser would of course be a great acquisition, but any incoming wingers (Sylvain Marveaux looks set to join) I would hope they have a lot more about them than just being able to stick the ball on Andy Carroll’s head.
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INTRODUCING CRYSIS 2!
I love dis article. I once commentd dat Lfc playerz now prefer forcing d ball on Carroll’s head even right from our defensiv players esply Carrager(i lik d exclusn of Agger&Johnson) and most times we loose posesion dat way.
D only problem i’ve wit dis article is u sayin Lfc’s prob is not d players and u went ahead 2 say we dont press high up, No Imagination. HOW do u expect a below average player of Maxi to press high up, how do u expect Lucas to have good imagination. Its jst like sayin Barca’s success is nt bcos of their good players though other factors also play a role. Mister! Footbal is complex it’s a combination of power,strength,skils,imaginatn,creativity and winning mentality. Go buy some good playerz Lfc if u wana COMPETE.
pliz kenny buy us lavezzi or cavani becoz caroll needs to be rotated with other good players who can play on the ground.look wat redknap does at spurs.he has crouch,defoe,pav.we can even play 4-3-3 wth caroll,sarez and cavani/lavezzi upfront.lets alos get ansaldi for leftback,mvilla for defensive mid,honda for attcking,get ashley young and jarvis or arda.we nid a centreback and i want garry cahill.
Too true. This was the exact problem we had when Torres was here. We tried to build a team around him. Luckily, we didn’t get too far as he buggered off down south.
We need to focus on brining in players with not only high levels of technical skill, but players who can play WELL as a team. Players who will move out of position to fill in if a team mate has been pulled out of position.
This is how Arsenal and Barcelona play. Just watch them – there’s ALWAYS someone in the right place. This is what we need.
Lucas, Gerrard, Spearing and even Cole to some extent are all very good at this, Kuyt too, is more than comfortable tracking back, or moving out if a player is caught out of position. We need more players that are happy to do this. Torres used to just amble around the halfway line when we were being pressed, hoping for a counter attack.
I think Carroll is young enough that he CAN adapt his game, even if it’s only slightly. But, you’re right. Sometimes, Carroll won’t be the best option, but it’ll be useful to have him come off the bench, or to switch tactics halfway through a game to catch the other team off guard.
Agree with everything in this article friend.Since we played Carroll he’s won a lot of air battles but we play too many longballs from the back.my opinion is to get the best from Suarez and Carroll is to have fast wingers with good crosses,meaning a Bale-style of player.if you lob the ball from defence all the time,you are predictable and with a 2 or 3 man marking on air on Carroll,it’s difficult for him to take any headers.only Agger and Johnson are more calm with the ball on their feet.Carragher always lobs the ball from the right,Skrtel sometimes does it and Kyrgiakos doesnt know what the thing football means.we gotta need wingers at summer and we should build a team around Carroll and Suarez.put these two upfront and create a squad capable of challenging for the title.
Reina
Johnson Skrtel Cahill Baines
Navas Gerrard Alonso Arda
Suarez Carroll
YNWA
skertel……..agger……..taiwo
johnson……..cahill….coentrao
….eriksen…gerrard…suarez…
……………caroll…………
sub
kelly
jonjo
cara
meireles
kyut
ngog
reina and gulasci
Good article. But the problem with Carroll in a Liverpool shirt is two-fold. £35 mil would have been a lot for any unproven, technical, mobile, rounded, young striker. To pay £35mil only to be forced into playing an outdated, long-ball system to justify his price tag is to box yourself into a corner – which Liverpool have done at a staggering costs to themselves.
If Liverpool’s desire is for passing, pressing, fluid football – you could have taken your pick from any other young english striker – Sturridge, wickham, Moses – for e.g. for a fraction of the cost,, and they wouldn’t force Liverpool into playing battleship football.
So to pay £35mil for a striker who’s not up to the price tag is one thing- to pay that amount only to force the rest of the team into playing like Stoke every week is another.