Andy Carroll - Best Striker in the World

[Lecter]

It's clearly a confidence thing! You dont 'lose' strength and aggression at his age and they arent injury/fitness related really. Unlike with Torres and his explosive burst of pace that he once had.

I think its confidence

That said I wouldnt have picked him against Fulham

Its a tough ask to get a forward to dominate players like Hangeland & Senderos physically and in the air (particularly on your own)

What was noticeable though for me even Suarez (who tore the back out of Hangeland last year), struggled to get the better of him too often

[Lecter]

That's possibly the biggest dissapointment for many fans I think, in the air he has been generally awful. Monday night was a good example, he spent most of the game being bullied and beaten in the air by Hangeland and the other Fulham CB, tbh I can't remember him winning a single header in the opposition box, can you ??

He has been generally disappointing in the air thats been one of my biggest complaints so far

I think what you have to acknowledge though is that Hangeland is a pretty good defender in the air so I dont read too much into what happened on Monday. Frankly I wouldnt have played him because of Hangeland (as I have mentioned in this thread)

Carrolls aerial ability does need looking at. I think generally with his back to goal and the ball hoofed/pumped long to him hes not effective. Hes far more effective running on to headers/attacking the ball in the box. Yet he hasnt shown enough in this department now is that down to delivery or Carroll I think its a combination of both frankly. There have been a couple of occasions when the balls been great and hes attacked the ball and hes either hit the post or fluffed the opportunity - that could be a confidence thing

I've seen things in his play that I have thought were positive and some things in his play I've not been happy with but that is the same with most players frankly

[Craig_H]

No purely based on his performances. His performances have been sub standard for any striker in the premier league and he needs to improve (and then some) and i hope he does.

The transfer fee spiel is a whole different argument, one which i don't care to get into

Was atrocious against Wolves? Was he atrocious against Everton? Was he atrocious against City? Was he atrocious at Stoke?

Those just off the top of my head. But it's all very black and white if someone is a simpleton. I'm sure you're not though and can see shades of grey.
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[Mostar]

He has been generally disappointing in the air thats been one of my biggest complaints so far

I think what you have to acknowledge though is that Hangeland is a pretty good defender in the air so I dont read too much into what happened on Monday. Frankly I wouldnt have played him because of Hangeland (as I have mentioned in this thread)

Carrolls aerial ability does need looking at. I think generally with his back to goal and the ball hoofed/pumped long to him hes not effective. Hes far more effective running on to headers/attacking the ball in the box. Yet he hasnt shown enough in this department now is that down to delivery or Carroll I think its a combination of both frankly. There have been a couple of occasions when the balls been great and hes attacked the ball and hes either hit the post or fluffed the opportunity - that cold be a confidence thing

I've seen things in his play that I have thought were positive and some things in his play I've not been happy with but that is the same with most players frankly

I agree with that.

His ball heading tehnique needs to improve, which I mentioned plenty of times, and his jump timing is off.

Lot of times he jumps too early and heads the ball on his way down which contributes to poor accuracy and lack of power.

[Slinky Skills]

Was N'Gog good enough? Nope, but he wasnt hounded like Carroll is. It's so obviously to do with the money.

And FWIW, i think Carroll will prove good enough, if some people can just offer a bit of patience and faith/support.

If he doesn't start hitting them in this season then he definitley will next year.

He is going to be a savage goalscorer in time and may possibly go down as a legend for this club. He has all the potential and the credentials to do it, he just needs a bit of belief in his own confidence.

Once he gets that self belief he will be unstoppable will the big man.

[danperkins]

Hangeland is practically unbeatable in the air & Senderos is a donkey that probably had one of the best games he's ever played. Carroll hasn't won much in the air and didn't really expect him to do much against Hangeland to be honest.

I have been critical of Carroll recently and IMO rightly so, forgetting transfer fees he simply is not playing well. Whether it confidence,injuries,team setup etc he just simply hasn't played well and that has to improve. I am not writing him off just simply stating the obvious about his performances

We are at a stage were we cannot afford any passengers, it's a risky one whether to give Carroll more games or to start with what IMO Suarez/Maxi/Bellamy is a far more productive and dangerous selection.

Someone brought up the point about Carroll playing too deep and IMO this is spot on. It is not his game to do that and makes him look awkward and unco-ordinated when he's running around in the middle of the park, i just cannot see why Kenny would ask him to do that? So i can only imagine it's Carroll himself deciding to drop deep maybe to get more involved. With Suarez practically playing as a winger, if Carroll drops who's in the box if the ball comes in?

Adam has been getting up and supporting near the opposition penalty in last 3 or 4 games which is a welcome relief, and with Maxi and/or Bellamy in the starting line up we look a far more attacking threat and less predictable than we are with Carroll in the side.

I genuinely hope Carroll starts to fire away at LFC but IMO at the moment we are better off without him in the starting 11, same goes for Downing for me.

[Mostar]

If he doesn't start hitting them in this season then he definitley will next year.

He is going to be a savage goalscorer in time and may possibly go down as a legend for this club. He has all the potential and the credentials to do it, he just needs a bit of belief in his own confidence.

Once he gets that self belief he will be unstoppable will the big man.

Personally I see him as a good option to have in the squad (when he improves in certain areas) but I have doubts that he'll ever be a player that we can rely on game in and game out.

I cannot see him becoming a legend but would like to be proven wrong.

[Lecter]

I agree with that.

His ball heading tehnique needs to improve, which I mentioned plenty of times, and his jump timing is off.

Lot of times he jumps too early and heads the ball on his way down which contributes to poor accuracy and lack of power.

I'd agree with this outside the box with his back to goal

Facing the goal and attacking the ball I think its a combination of bad delivery and Carroll being off the pace

Lets look at the Chelsea game as an instance there are two good deliveries that Carroll went for that immediately spring to mind. One resulted in Alex's handball and the other the defender (Luiz?) pushed Carroll when he was looking as though he was going to get his head to it. There was another penalty on Carroll in that game as well so for someone who isnt doing enough hes clearly causing defenders some problems (all be it **** defenders like Ruiz )

[danperkins]

Personally I see him a good option to have in the squad (when he improves in certain areas) but I have doubts that he'll ever be a player that we can rely on game in and game out.

I cannot see him becoming a legend but would like to be proven wrong.

[Lecter]

Hangeland is practically unbeatable in the air & Senderos is a donkey that probably had one of the best games he's ever played. Carroll hasn't won much in the air and didn't really expect him to do much against Hangeland to be honest.

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Me neither

However Carroll played well against Chelsea in the Cup and caused some problems for their defenders (see my earlier post)

Chelsea was one of his better games for me, but he shouldnt have played against Fulham

[Buzzo]

Hangeland is practically unbeatable in the air & Senderos is a donkey that probably had one of the best games he's ever played. Carroll hasn't won much in the air and didn't really expect him to do much against Hangeland to be honest.

I have been critical of Carroll recently and IMO rightly so, forgetting transfer fees he simply is not playing well. Whether it confidence,injuries,team setup etc he just simply hasn't played well and that has to improve. I am not writing him off just simply stating the obvious about his performances

We are at a stage were we cannot afford any passengers, it's a risky one whether to give Carroll more games or to start with what IMO Suarez/Maxi/Bellamy is a far more productive and dangerous selection.

Someone brought up the point about Carroll playing too deep and IMO this is spot on. It is not his game to do that and makes him look awkward and unco-ordinated when he's running around in the middle of the park, i just cannot see why Kenny would ask him to do that? So i can only imagine it's Carroll himself deciding to drop deep maybe to get more involved. With Suarez practically playing as a winger, if Carroll drops who's in the box if the ball comes in?

Adam has been getting up and supporting near the opposition penalty in last 3 or 4 games which is a welcome relief, and with Maxi and/or Bellamy in the starting line up we look a far more attacking threat and less predictable than we are with Carroll in the side.

I genuinely hope Carroll starts to fire away at LFC but IMO at the moment we are better off without him in the starting 11, same goes for Downing for me.

Good post Dan

[danperkins]

Good post Dan

Thank you sir

[danperkins]

Me neither

However Carroll played well against Chelsea in the Cup and caused some problems for their defenders (see my earlier post)

Chelsea was one of his better games for me, but he shouldnt have played against Fulham

completely agree

One thing i found hilarious was at one point Senderos got the ball and went by 3 or 4 Liverpool players, turned around to my dad and said "when Senderos is doing **** like that you know it's not going to be you're night"

[Bender]

carroll needs a run of 15/20 games

[~LFCHistory~]

carroll needs a run of 15/20 games

We won't see the best of him til 2013. It'll be worth the wait though.