Andy Carroll - Best Striker in the World

[Shaggy]

Michael Cox @Zonal_Marking
Fraizer Campbell in the England squad?! Because of injury he's scored one goal in 18 months and hasn't played 90mins since August 2010

[JHP]

Left out of the England squad while jokers like Frazier ****ing Campbell are in. What a joke.

Yeah but look at who's selecting the team.

[Daniel 7]

Glad he isnt in. Sick of international friendlies injuring our players. I hope he never gets picked for england.

[Muddled]

Some promising signs yesterday; he looked to link up with Suarez and was comfortable gaining control of the ball and waiting for support. I also think the experience of playing in a cup final will do him the world of good too.

There is still room for improvement - he needs to improve his anticipation and read the game a little better; when his flick on broke for Suarez he seemed to remain static at the end of the box, instead of looking to get on the six yard line - I can't quite make my mind up as to whether he thought Suarez was just going to work some magic regardless and get a shot away, or if he thought Suarez would look for the (deep) pull back - but it quite clearly pointed out that he doesn't anticipate anything around the six yard line and certainly won't score many tap-ins.

But another promising display and a step in the right direction.

[danperkins]

IMO he was terrible yesterday, his movement and anticipation in the box was desperate. If he had busted a gut to get into the 6 yard box there was 2 or 3 great chances to score.

P.S. Mind you let be honest did anyone actually think Downing was going to get them crosses in any ways

[Mattshark]

Some promising signs yesterday; he looked to link up with Suarez and was comfortable gaining control of the ball and waiting for support. I also think the experience of playing in a cup final will do him the world of good too.

There is still room for improvement - he needs to improve his anticipation and read the game a little better; when his flick on broke for Suarez he seemed to remain static at the end of the box, instead of looking to get on the six yard line - I can't quite make my mind up as to whether he thought Suarez was just going to work some magic regardless and get a shot away, or if he thought Suarez would look for the (deep) pull back - but it quite clearly pointed out that he doesn't anticipate anything around the six yard line and certainly won't score many tap-ins.

But another promising display and a step in the right direction.

Sorry but it was far from that, he was very very poor yesterday, his movement and anticipation were terrible. I thought it was a big step backwards from the Brighton game.

[Maxiedge]

Well he certainly busted a gut to try and stop them from scoring last minute!!

It wasn't the best performance, in the striker's sense, but I thought his overall contribution and attitude was very good.

Also, the situation where Suarez took that shot from a tight angle and it trickled across the box looking for a finish...well I think it's harsh to have a go at Carroll for that one as Suarez lost the ball then won it back (as he does) so it's hard to anticipate that.

[red g]

IMO he was terrible yesterday, his movement and anticipation in the box was desperate. If he had busted a gut to get into the 6 yard box there was 2 or 3 great chances to score.

P.S. Mind you let be honest did anyone actually think Downing was going to get them crosses in any ways

[Mark79]

Also, the situation where Suarez took that shot from a tight angle and it trickled across the box looking for a finish...well I think it's harsh to have a go at Carroll for that one as Suarez lost the ball then won it back (as he does) so it's hard to anticipate that.

I thought it was clear that Suarez was going to retrieve the ball and Carroll had plenty of time to shift himself. I couldn't believe that he just stood still and watched.

[Mattshark]

I thought it was clear that Suarez was going to retrieve the ball and Carroll had plenty of time to shift himself. I couldn't believe that he just stood still and watched.

That is a major problem with Carroll's game, he stands and watches too much, he seriously lacks positional sense and anticipation.

[BG1973]

That is a major problem with Carroll's game, he stands and watches too much, he seriously lacks positional sense and anticipation.

In a nutshell. He plays flatfooted and waits for the ball to find him rather than taking calculated gambles with near post runs etc.

But yeah he's started running around a bit more so well done big man.

we were better when he came off.

Harsh but true.

[Muddled]

Sorry but it was far from that, he was very very poor yesterday, his movement and anticipation were terrible. I thought it was a big step backwards from the Brighton game.

I certainly don't think he was worse than Brighton and if he can remain consistent in his performances, I'm all for it. I can only think of the one moment when he was caught on his back foot, which is what I mentioned earlier. Other than that, he was putting himself about and linking up well, if we're looking at poor performances yesterday - Suarez and Henderson had worse games.

[cream]

We certainly need a new striker, the question us whether we keep or not.

[Mostar]

IMO he was terrible yesterday, his movement and anticipation in the box was desperate. If he had busted a gut to get into the 6 yard box there was 2 or 3 great chances to score.

P.S. Mind you let be honest did anyone actually think Downing was going to get them crosses in any ways

His movement in the box was too slow as Downing had some beautiful crosses in that went in vain (Luis too).

I also would like to see him improve his hold up play as he tends to hang around the box but he passes as soon as ball is thrown his way and almost always backwards.

He did have few decent headers in the box from corners but I want to see more from Andy.

Also he and Luis need to work more on 1-2 touch passing as that is not working atm.

[Exiled_red]

I think that a problem with his movement is down to a lack of space in the box, from his Newcastle days he wasn't used to having to deal with so many defenders. When teams come up against us they put alot of men behind the ball and often there will be a packed penalty area with 5 or 6 defenders in there. It then means that there are no 'obvious' spaces for him to run into. I think he needs to (a) be cleverer with his runs and create that extra yard or half yard of space and (b) get used to playing his game with less space than he has been used to so far. He is able to do this quite well in the air because of his height advantage but I think he lacks confidence with the ball at his feet. I think he is a decent striker of the ball when he doen't have time to think about it. Most of his goals with his feet seem to come in these circumstances IIRC.