Andy Carroll - Best Striker in the World

[memzey]

I know this going to be an unpopular opinion on here but Carroll actually played quite well on Saturday. He was a handfull for their defence for as long as he was on the pitch, drew a great save from their keeper and played the target man role - playing midfielders in while his back is towards goal - very well.

Now I will admit that in games to come I'd expect him to be more of an obvious goal threat more often in a game but his overall contribution was OK. 7/10 or so I'd say. I can understand why some people are uneasy watching him play given what we paid for him, but we should remember a couple of things: 1. The lad didn't set his transfer fee so let's not make him carry it every time he steps on the pitch for us and 2. He brings a set of strengths and attributes we haven't had in the team for generations so we're bound to take some time to best integrate him into our unit. On the other hand I think some people just criticise him because he isn't Luis Suarez or due to some of our defenders being incapable of resisting the big pump forward onto his bonce. Neither of these faults can really be laid at his door IMHO.

[yamiedo]

If Carroll gets into double figures in goals this season I'd be pretty satisfied. He is not just there as a goalscorer, he is there to hold up play and provide a link for the midfield to run on to and I think he will be very successful at that.

[Mostar]

He needs to move into the box faster to give chance Downing, Suarez, Enrique to find him there.

Lot of times he is one step too slow and they need to wait until he gets there and by the time he does that, the defense is firmly set and his chances of scoring are pretty slim.

His movement in the box needs to improve and he needs to be more aggressive.

His physical pre-dispositions are enormous and he's barely using any of them at this point.

[RedReet]

I know this going to be an unpopular opinion on here but Carroll actually played quite well on Saturday. He was a handfull for their defence for as long as he was on the pitch, drew a great save from their keeper and played the target man role - playing midfielders in while his back is towards goal - very well.

Now I will admit that in games to come I'd expect him to be more of an obvious goal threat more often in a game but his overall contribution was OK. 7/10 or so I'd say. I can understand why some people are uneasy watching him play given what we paid for him, but we should remember a couple of things: 1. The lad didn't set his transfer fee so let's not make him carry it every time he steps on the pitch for us and 2. He brings a set of strengths and attributes we haven't had in the team for generations so we're bound to take some time to best integrate him into our unit. On the other hand I think some people just criticise him because he isn't Luis Suarez or due to some of our defenders being incapable of resisting the big pump forward onto his bonce. Neither of these faults can really be laid at his door IMHO.

I can't remember seeing much of this. I can remember a couple of decent lay offs from long balls, but generally I thought his link up play and movement was a bit disappointing. I still think he did ok, can't find too much fault in his performance, but there was very little threat in anything he did bar that one header IMO.

[dww]

I can't remember seeing much of this. I can remember a couple of decent lay offs from long balls, but generally I thought his link up play and movement was a bit disappointing. I still think he did ok, can't find too much fault in his performance, but there was very little threat in anything he did bar that one header IMO.

My feeling was that his positioning/movement wasn't really good enough. He did okay in terms of winning the ball but was often too deep for it to be useful and didn't hold/move with the ball well enough to bring others into play or make space for those behind him.

[Exiled_red]

I'm not going to criticise Carroll, but i agree with this completely - the idea that we were always going to pay £15m less for Carroll than we got for Torres, is laughable IMO.

We didnt go upto £35m because Chelsea paid £50m for Torres, we went to £35m because our previous bids of lower amounts were rejected. We eventually got to £35m and this was accepted. The fact that it was £15m lower than the Torres fee was mere coincidence.

As has been said, if we'd bid £28m and Newcastle had accepted it, we wouldnt have gone "Oh hang on, Torres has gone for £50m, so we're upping it to £35m."


I dont believe that for a second, regardless of whether JWH said it or not. The idea that we had one phone in one hand with Chelsea on the other end, and another in the other hand with Newcastle there, going from one to the other, telling one to hold on while we spoke to the other - which is effectively what this suggests, is absurd

I would imagine it was the other way around, presumably it wasn't Torres price that determined Carroll's but Carroll's that determined Torres.

Presumably when we knew Torres wanted out and were negotiating with Chelsea, we would also have been dealing with Newcastle for Carroll, I would imagine we would have decided that we wanted £15m + Carroll for Torres, so we find out how much Newcastle wanted for Carroll and agreed a fee, then went back to Chelsea and told them we wanted £15m more than that fee for Torres.*

*Presumably the actual negotiations wouldn't have been this simple, but I'd imagine this would be the principle.

I don't think the idea that the two fees were linked in the way being suggested is as unreasonable as some people seem to think, obviously we were only going to deal with Chelsea for a fee that enabled us to get a replacement and come out with something, whether the figures mentioned are accurate (or are what we really wanted) is another matter.

[Craig_H]

Thing is, i dont think we would have been letting Chelsea know that we were bidding for Carroll, much less the actual amounts involved.

[Darth Marty]

**** me that transfer window was mental wasnt it?!

Helicopters everywhere..........

[Parr_Zee]

Why do people keep saying Andy Carroll is "clearly not fit"? He looks a lot slimmer than last year that's for sure.

Do you all suddenly expect him to start running like Usain Bolt?

I was going to say the same thing Pablo! In pre-season people were saying how fit he looked etc. Now that he isnt playing well, he is "not fit".

Carroll had a full summer of rest. He has also had a full pre-season campaign including about 5 games of action. If he is not fit now, he never will be. The "not fit" claims are again just people making excuses for his poor performances.

[Nick77]

Absolute nothing??
I must have watched a completely different game to you then

Ok I've exaggerated a bit, but compared to the performance he put in last season for Newcastle he was nowhere near the same player.
I'm just saying he's not the same player mentally, that's all...

[Parr_Zee]

Why do you think that?

Because in todays climate (barring the occaisional exception - Torres, C.Ronaldo), £35m gets you the best. I can't think of many strikers that you wouldn't be able to agree a fee for if you were prepared to pay £35m.

[Exiled_red]

Thing is, i dont think we would have been letting Chelsea know that we were bidding for Carroll, much less the actual amounts involved.

No we wouldn't have told them (Chelsea) the details of the Carroll deal, we'd have agreed a fee whatever it cost for Carroll with Newcastle and then told Chelsea the fee we wanted for Torres possibly with some negotiation room (i.e. £55m) or by telling them £50m is the price they have to pay if they want him.

[Daniel 7]

I think there's been a misinterpretation of the £35m fee and the difference to Chelsea.

What JWH said was, as long as there was a £15m profit minimum, the deal would have gone ahead. With LFC receiving £50m the MAXIMUM we would go to was £35m, and thats what we paid.

Repost.

[BobTheCharmer]

The Carroll looked good in the most. Gerrard will LOVE playing off of him as will Luis when they get serious minutes together on the pitch. At the moment playing the loan role upfront is like having a ****ing massive cock but alas no balls.

[RichC]

Caroll up top with Downing, Suarez and Gerrard floating behind would worry most teams I'd imagine!