Worth a read - Jamie Carragher on Andy Carroll - Now, I want to make it clear I’ve no axe to grind with Andy. I found him to be a good lad and his spell at the club wasn’t without highlights. He did what every Liverpool No 9 should do and scored two winning goals against Everton, including one at Wembley in the 2012 FA Cup semi-final. I wanted Liverpool to sign him, especially after he tormented our defence one day at St James’ Park. If we could have got him for between £12-15m, it would have been good business. The feeling around the club when we were in for him was that maybe he could mature into our Didier Drogba. Unfortunately, though, Liverpool’s decision to pay £35million was a big mistake and it never did Andy any favours. He started well, with two goals against Manchester City on his first start, but it quickly became apparent he wasn’t the right fit for the club. In training, he’d complain if the ball was not flung into the box — and I don’t mean from out wide. He wanted the ball to come in to him from close to the halfway line, but at Liverpool that was never going to happen. There were other things. He found the intensity of playing three games every week difficult. Before he might have been used to getting himself right for a match on a Saturday, then spending time socially with his mates — as we all did when we were young — but at Liverpool the training and professional demands are relentless. He would very rarely complete a full week on the training field at Melwood and, eventually, that takes a toll. If you aren’t fully conditioned, you are susceptible to injuries and Andy suffered his fair share. Another major issue was the fact he lacked pace. He suits the way Sam Allardyce operates and is West Ham’s focal point but at Liverpool that would never have been the case. Andy may feel Brendan made the decision about him too quickly but it was the right call.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 23:06:17 +0000
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