Andy Carroll - Best Striker in the World

[Mattshark]

Also I'm not talking about aimlessly bombarding the oppositon box with long punts I'm talking getting to byline and putting the cross into the box. Carroll is more likely to win the ball then the defenders and when you have Sturridge and Suarez on the pitch they will pounce on the second ball.

We need to mix it up because currently we are ridiculously predictable when we desparately want to break down teams going to the final minutes of the game.

But he isn't though, he is positionally poor and it would be to the detriment of the team. This is style was IMO a major factor in failure to score last season. Intelligent ball use, good technical ability and good movement are far more problematic for defenders.

[spider-neil]

Also I'm not talking about aimlessly bombarding the oppositon box with long punts I'm talking getting to byline and putting the cross into the box. Carroll is more likely to win the ball then the defenders and when you have Sturridge and Suarez on the pitch they will pounce on the second ball.

We need to mix it up because currently we are ridiculously predictable when we desparately want to break down teams going to the final minutes of the game.

[danperkins]

IMO we'll get about 12 million for Carroll .... anything else is a massive bonus.

[dww]

Remember Barca away at Chelsea in the CL semi final 2nd leg a couple of years ago? 93 minutes they passed and passed, got nowhere and were going out. They kept passing, passing, passing and in the 94th minute Iniesta scored a wonderful goal. You either have faith in your system or you don't - I fail to see the good in abandoning your principles from 80 minutes onwards in favour of hoofing it miles up into the sky and hoping for a bit of luck.

My inclination is to agree with your point. However, Gary Lineker has said that in the last few minutes Johan Cruyff would encourage his teams to be noticeably more direct if they were down. I'm not sure that you have to completely abandon your principles to add the option of a big front man up top.

On the other hand I think it is much better to look at the substitute options that have worked for Barcelona and Spain in recent years. Often it has been more about moving the point of attack in a more subtle way - pacey wingers or a deeper attacking threat instead of a forward. I think those options offer a more natural way of altering a team.

[Mattshark]

I'm not talking about the goal Sturridge scored, I'm saying we mixed it up and caught Fulham flat footed. I'm also saying I have no problem what so ever changing our formation and tactics in the final 10 minutes to secure a goal.
If it's a choice of no goal in the final 10 minutes or an ugly goal bundled over the line off Carroll's arse then I'm always going to go for the latter.

But that type of play is very low percentage and tbh, is exactly what a lot of defenders prefer to defend.

[spider-neil]

Which wouldn't have worked with cos he'd have fallen over the ball, he simply lacks the ability to play for us at the level we want to be at.

I'm not talking about the goal Sturridge scored, I'm saying we mixed it up and caught Fulham flat footed. I'm also saying I have no problem what so ever changing our formation and tactics in the final 10 minutes to secure a goal.
If it's a choice of no goal in the final 10 minutes or an ugly goal bundled over the line off Carroll's arse then I'm always going to go for the latter.

[Fredo]

Even Barca need to change. They need other options. The games against Bayern showed that. If they don't change then they will never get back to the top again.

Xavi is getting older and he is impossible to replace. That means that the passing game suffers a lot. That means that they need other options because only the best passing game ever works if they don't have other options.

A lot of players that play the Barca way is up for sale this summer. They need players that can play in a different way.

Barca don't need to change their style of play, just need to change their personnel a bit.

[Shaggy]

I agree it's good to mix it up a bit but I would never want to see us just start launching it cos passing it hasn't worked. That was a good long pass from Wisdom - nowt wrong with that at all. Long passing is awesome. But what most teams tend to do when they're desperate in the last 10 minutes is launch long, hopeful punts into the box and we'd probably do that if we had Carroll.

[Alex]

Even Barca need to change. They need other options. The games against Bayern showed that. If they don't change then they will never get back to the top again.

Xavi is getting older and he is impossible to replace. That means that the passing game suffers a lot. That means that they need other options because only the best passing game ever works if they don't have other options.

A lot of players that play the Barca way is up for sale this summer. They need players that can play in a different way.

Thats nothing to do with their style of play and philosophy. Just that their style has been worked out and more effectively neutralised. Which is why they need to evolve again.

Barca 2 years ago were basically unplayable. They had a single aim, which was to pass teams to death and they did it amazingly well. Just now the natural process means they need to change that.

Although as you say, Xavi getting older isn't going to help them in the short term.

[Mattshark]

The result is the most important thing. Good for Barca for turning that one game around but we are talking about the English league where this season we have been drawing games hand over fist. It isn't about abandoning you principles it is about mixing things up and not being so blasted predictable.
We were passing ourselves to death v Fulham and then one route one pass (sorry HOOF!) from Wisdom and skill from Sturride and the ball was in the back of the net. Brendan should have gone to the refs and had the goal chalked off because there weren't 20 passes which proceeded the goal.

Which wouldn't have worked with cos he'd have fallen over the ball, he simply lacks the ability to play for us at the level we want to be at.

[spider-neil]

Remember Barca away at Chelsea in the CL semi final 2nd leg a couple of years ago? 93 minutes they passed and passed, got nowhere and were going out. They kept passing, passing, passing and in the 94th minute Iniesta scored a wonderful goal. You either have faith in your system or you don't - I fail to see the good in abandoning your principles from 80 minutes onwards in favour of hoofing it miles up into the sky and hoping for a bit of luck.

The result is the most important thing. Good for Barca for turning that one game around but we are talking about the English league where this season we have been drawing games hand over fist. It isn't about abandoning you principles it is about mixing things up and not being so blasted predictable.
We were passing ourselves to death v Fulham and then one route one pass (sorry HOOF!) from Wisdom and skill from Sturride and the ball was in the back of the net. Brendan should have gone to the refs and had the goal chalked off because there weren't 20 passes which proceeded the goal.

[Arn]

Remember Barca away at Chelsea in the CL semi final 2nd leg a couple of years ago? 93 minutes they passed and passed, got nowhere and were going out. They kept passing, passing, passing and in the 94th minute Iniesta scored a wonderful goal. You either have faith in your system or you don't - I fail to see the good in abandoning your principles from 80 minutes onwards in favour of hoofing it miles up into the sky and hoping for a bit of luck.

Even Barca need to change. They need other options. The games against Bayern showed that. If they don't change then they will never get back to the top again.

Xavi is getting older and he is impossible to replace. That means that the passing game suffers a lot. That means that they need other options because only the best passing game ever works if they don't have other options.

A lot of players that play the Barca way is up for sale this summer. They need players that can play in a different way.

[Shaggy]

I have to stress that if we've spent 80 minutes trying to break down a team playing a certain way with no success, what is the point spending the last 10 minutes playing the EXACT SAME WAY?

Remember Barca away at Chelsea in the CL semi final 2nd leg a couple of years ago? 93 minutes they passed and passed, got nowhere and were going out. They kept passing, passing, passing and in the 94th minute Iniesta scored a wonderful goal. You either have faith in your system or you don't - I fail to see the good in abandoning your principles from 80 minutes onwards in favour of hoofing it miles up into the sky and hoping for a bit of luck.

[spider-neil]

I have to stress that if we've spent 80 minutes trying to break down a team playing a certain way with no success, what is the point spending the last 10 minutes playing the EXACT SAME WAY?

[RedReet]

TBH I’d probably prefer to have him in the team over Borini at the minute. I don’t really see how Borini fits our system any more than Carroll would.

I imagine Borini will look much better next year, but with Suarez, Coutinho and Sturridge, I’m not sure where he’s likely to play.