Andy Carroll - Best Striker in the World

[Parr_Zee]

Rome wasn't built in a day.
Our pre-season is always a non event..?

Exactly, and guess what, we normally start the season shockingly as a result...

[Roboklopp]

Didnt Scum lose 8-2 last night?

[Parr_Zee]

Burgess/Brukner will have been absolutely flogging the boys in pre-season, so they have probably been going into these games quite fatigued. It certainly looked that way versus Valarenga. The fitness work will be eased off around now, so we should start to see them get a bit sharper.

And how would this be different for all the other teams who manage to win pre-season games? Are the others not doing as much fitness work as us?

[Parr_Zee]

Didnt Scum lose 8-2 last night?

David Ginola was playing for them. That shows what kind of game it was...

[banditos]

And how would this be different for all the other teams who manage to win pre-season games? Are the others not doing as much fitness work as us?

Clearly not.

I may be wrong, but its a pre-seaon approach used by lot of AFL teams to buid up core fitness before a long season. With all the rubbish british physios going round, maybe this will give us an edge.

[The Birdman]

Pre season results mean absolutely nothing.
Reina and Johnson have played once, Lucas, Suarez and Gerrard not at all.

Its about fitness and trying different formations and tactics

[the rev leeroy brown]

Didnt Scum lose 8-2 last night?

David Ginola was playing for them. That shows what kind of game it was...

and coady, poulsen and ayala all played for us in our games - shows what kind of a game ours were too.

Pre season results mean absolutely nothing.
Reina and Johnson have played once, Lucas, Suarez and Gerrard not at all.

Its about fitness and trying different formations and tactics

[Fredo]

The key with regards Carroll is service and support. He's average on the deck and a beast in the air.

Ping the ball to him and he'll often win it, but there MUST be players close to him to pick up the scraps and knock downs.

In pre season he has been the high and the low point. When no one supports it's frustrating and pointless when they punt a ball up. But when someone supports it all comes together.

A Stevie G of 08\09 or a Luis Suarez is an ideal player to be picking up the scraps. Henderson looked decent in the role as well, as I'd imagine Meiteles would look decent too - they have massive amounts of energy and can get up and down to support.

He'll clearly be a regular so we need to get this right.

So you suggest either we change our game to mimick Sam Allardyce's tactics or we just use him as a plan B when our passing football isn't working? In each game he has played we have tried to play too many long balls; it's a recurring theme and I think he'll be a fantastic player in a team managed by Allardyce.

[dww]

I think you make a valid point fredo. I think if we keep pumping/pinging balls in as a first option we won't on balance get good enough returns. If we have that option along with more creative/patient/possession based tactics then we will get a lot of rewards.

If Carroll doesn't improve a lot fo aspects of his game we will at some point have to replace him with a more mobile and technical player - as United did with van Nistelrooy (this is not meant to be a comparison of the two quality wise BTW).

[Exiled_red]

Short answer, yes. Long answer, I think Carroll's "intelligence" is a bit overplayed. He's got great instincts and is a menace in the box.

I'm not really commenting on his ability or intelligence, he's mostly been injured in his time here so it's been difficult to judge, and I didn't really see more than MOTD highlights for most of his time in the Premiership. I think that most premiership strikers should be able to put the ball in the net if they get the ball in a yard of space, the thing that seperates the good or great strikers from the average ones is how frequently they can create that space for themselves.

[Parr_Zee]

and coady, poulsen and ayala all played for us in our games - shows what kind of a game ours were too.

You cannot compare the fortunes of a team of players trying to make an impression and force their way into a Premier League team, with a team playing in a charity match consisting of a 44 year old David Ginola, and a 40 year old Fabien Barthez. Its absurd.

[Neil Young]

I think you make a valid point fredo.

[The Birdman]

Just wondering why there hasn't been anymore pointless ctiticism of Carroll after yesterdays game??

Oh maybe it's because he scored, caused them problems and looked a lot fitter, athletic and mobile now he is approaching full fitness.

Interesting that on LFCtv Gary Gillespie said that he spoke to Carroll who said to him that "he has never worked harder on his game" said Kenny and Steve Clarke are constantly working on him positionally and technically

[Chrono]

The normal routine is to express that someone isn't good enough and then get in to the shadows when evidence starts leaning the other way, shortly followed by claims of always believing he had it in him to be such a great player

[SB]

The normal routine is to express that someone isn't good enough and then get in to the shadows when evidence starts leaning the other way, shortly followed by claims of always believing he had it in him to be such a great player

you rang !