It is fair to say that Andy Carroll’sLiverpool career certainly hasn’t gone the way he or reds fanswould have hoped. Last Monday’s frustrating loss to Fulham again highlighted that although Liverpool do possess a strong squad, something just isn’t quite right up front in the striking department.
Andy Carroll tried to impose himself with his aerial presence throughout the game and perhaps should have scored in the first half when Luis Suarez set up an opportunity for him from a few yards out. The former Newcastle man is clearly struggling at the moment and looks like he needs a real shot of confidence to get his career back on track.
I have to say that at the time we signed Andy Carroll, I was quite pleased to see us signing someone who had bags of potential and seemed destined for a key role in the England squad for years to come. Of course the £35 million spent was ridiculously overpriced but people need to remember that it was only that price due to money received that same day for Fernando Torres.
Carroll’s superb performance against Manchester City last season gave us all a glimpse of how much of a threat the England man could be, and it was hoped that he would push on from there to establish himself as one of the best in the league. Unfortunately, we’re now in December and still waiting for Carroll to prove himself worthy of a place in Liverpool’s first team.
With the January transfer window not too far away now, the transfer gossip stories are again in full flow, with some debating whether Liverpool should invest in another top striker to play alongside Suarez. Of course we would all love to see a top marksman signed to help our goal shy forwards but the question is, where would that leave Andy Carroll?
Even though it’s coming up to a year since he was signed, it would still be seen as a bold move by Kenny Dalglish were he to cut his losses and sell Carroll to another team. For one thing it would cast major doubt on Dalglish’s judgement on new transfers if the Scot sold the £35 million man for a lot less money barely 12 months after recruiting him in spectacular fashion. However, if the transfer of Andy Carroll resulted in the signing of one of the world’s emerging stars who settled in instantly and banged in goals for fun then Carroll’s expensive fee would be forgotten about pretty quickly.
In reality it’s very unlikely that Dalglish is willing to give up on Andy Carroll just yet and we should expect to see the England man attempt to make it into the Euro 2012 squad by stepping up his efforts in the second half of the season. It is easy to forget that Carroll is still only 22 and there is always the fear that if he were sold now he may rediscover his Newcastle form from last season and fulfil his potential as England’s next striking sensation.
I’m definitely one for giving players chances to make an impact and I would be happy to see Carroll given the opportunity to win over the fans. To do this he will need to work on his understanding with his teammates and preferably be more mobile in order to suit Liverpool’s fluid attack. I personally don’t believe Carroll is destined to be another Robbie Keane and I’m confident that if he can work on creating space for himself to get more shots at goal, we will see the return to form of a man who has the potential to achieve great things.
With Bellamy currently in good form, it would make sense for Carroll to be benched for now but given a lot more opportunities to impress over the course of the season. We’ve all seen players hit low points but then come back in blazing form while his age means that time truly is on his side. Whether he fulfils his potential or not remains to be seen but for Andy Carroll, the current campaign may just turn out to be a make or break season for him.
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