He is on the cusp of finding his top level again

There is no doubt that Andy Carroll’s pre-season performances have improved markedly since his first match against Guangdong Sunray Cave in the middle of July. The Geordie striker looked very lacklustre and very slow in his first match in China, not surprising considering it was his first pre-season match.

It still led some to worry about the wisdom of paying £35million for the 22 year old though, as there were question marks about what the former Newcastle man would both give the side, as well as how he would affect the Reds’ style of play. There are still some who feel Liverpool may adopt an overly direct style to accommodate Carroll in the side, and although there will surely be greater number of crosses and inevitably a few aimless long balls from the back (ahem Carra), I think the Valencia friendly does provide fans with some of the answers to these worries.

He gave the Valencia defence a torrid time all afternoon, and he was really up for the match with his competitive edge clearly demonstrated by his altercations with Adil Rami and Mehmet Topal. He got his goal early on, held up play pretty well, used his aerial ability to good use and demonstrated that he is very good with his feet as well.

There were still a few too many long balls, and few aimless crosses but his Red team-mates are still getting to know Andy Carroll’s game too, as well as vice versa, so the more time he is on the pitch, the greater understanding there will be to know when to put crosses in or when to go short.

With Carroll’s technical ability, he will have no problem if the Reds opt for a bit of short pass and move football, and this is one of the reasons why I am not too concerned about his impact on the Reds style of play. If we use him right, the Reds will cause all sorts of problems as he will give the team an added option, rather than merely being the only option.