Andy Carroll - Best Striker in the World

[RichC]

Nah thats not too high

The next tier below includes

Micheal Owen
Torres

The one below that Heskey and Stan Collymore

Collymore had the talent to be a great, his head wasn't up to it though

[Shaggy]

I'm a bit concerned about him too. Looked a right carthorse last night

[Norbs]

I've sat on the fence about the Carroll signing so far as I want to give him time. Said before that he'll come good (whether he'll be a £35m signing is another matter)... but I'm worried. Really worried.

I got told off for questioning a signing of his type when he first signed. At the time I couldn't see why we needed a lump up front when our heritage was built around passing. At the time it was misread that I was critical of the player himself, but was assured he was a top class lump. The big problem is that he's getting a lot of airborne service but it isn't great which is frustrating everyone. We need to stop trying to put the ball on his head and just play our usual game.

[Rich]

Certainly not a great game from him last night. I don't think we helped him by having both Maxi and Henderson cutting in with virtually no overlap from the fullbacks.

Carroll went hunting for the ball then and didn't really sure us any silky skills.

What does need to be said though was it was a great finish.

[Fosterbloke]

What does need to be said though was it was a great finish.

If he plays like a carthorse all season but gets 25 of those then it's money well spent.

[Roboklopp]

Trying to reserve judgement.

[Carras_Shin_Pads]

I'm a bit concerned about him too. Looked a right carthorse last night

ha, brilliant phrase!

[memzey]

It's plain as day that the lads a little low on confidence at the moment. Scoring a few goals will sort that for him but the positive for me is that even when he's not scoring, he's still contributing to the team.

Bear with him, give him the kind of support we gave Crouchie and watch the big man take off. I've got the impression that when his confidence is where it should be, he'll be near enough impossible to stop.

[Shaggy]

I agree but even the basics were missing last night. Couldn't trap the simplest of balls. There is a beast in there somewhere but he needs a lot of work.

[Roboklopp]

I agree but even the basics were missing last night. Couldn't trap the simplest of balls. There is a beast in there somewhere but he needs a lot of work.

Is this similar to your Suarez's "little balls" obsession?

[The_weatherman]

If he had Crouch's touch and movement he'd be world class I was a bit disappointed with him yesterday, but I'll give him till christmas before sharpening the knives. It's just so frustrating because he has so much raw quality, that shot was unstoppable really.

He will probably peak late but when he does we will have monster on our hands, but he clearly has some areas to work on. For one, I think his time is better spent as close to goal as possible, he doesn't possess the touch to fall deep.

[Maxiedge]

Do we still have the receipt?

In all seriousness though, we have spent alot of money but we're looking much better for it. There's a couple of signings that need to show their worth but, on the whole, we've become a much formidable outfit. Johnson and Gerrard still to come back to.

I fancy Carroll to do better on Saturday, now that he's got his first of the season.

[Parr_Zee]

It's plain as day that the lads a little low on confidence at the moment.

A player low on confidence should still be able to control a ball, pass a ball and try NOT to run into 3 or 4 defenders.

Great finish by him last night, even if the chance came about from a mis-control and then him trying to bundle his way through 2 defenders and it happened to fall nicely for him. Unstoppable shot though!

Can I just ask ... why do people think Andy Carroll has started the season low on confidence. He had a full pre-season in which he scored quite a few goals. Where has the lack of confidence come from?

[Daniel 7]

My issue has and always has been the rudimentary football that is required to get the best out of a player like Carroll. I don't like "lump it up to the bigman" football, and when the big man in question seems unable to control the ball and is bad in the air, then you have a problem. As has been said before, the signing doesn't seem to fit in with our heritage in style, and the difference in the football on show last night pre and post him coming on was like night and day.

We would have been better off spending £10m on Kevin Davies on the form that has been shown so far.

That said, it was a thumping hit from him last night, and his goal reaction would suggest he's more than aware of his form.

[Exiled_red]

I think last night he did some things very well - his goal and he also showed some very good touches and control at times, at other times he looked poor, bad touches and no real awareness of what was around him. I think that we need to remember that he is still very young and young players need time, also he still doesn't look fit. I'll reserve judgement on him for now.