The Curious Case Of ANDY CARROLL

January 31 of 2011, the last day of winter transfers. Every Liverpool fan all around the world was shocked, sad and grieving because the much loved Fernando Torres fondly called “El Nino” or “Nando” by the Reds all around, left the club for a hefty price of £50 million to Chelsea. A lot of supporters at Merseyside took to the streets protesting and burning a jersey bearing his name. Amidst all this confusion and chaos as to who will take over the famous number 9 shirt formerly worn by Robbie Fowler, Ian Rush and most recently Fernando Torres himself. Liverpool would then announce the signing of Andy Carroll from Newcastle United for £35 million, which to date represents both Liverpool's most expensive ever signing, and also making him the most expensive British footballer.  Torres’ departure surely saddened the fans but now they have hope as the fans chanted together “We have just signed a colossus”.

Andrew Thomas Carroll was born on the 6^th on June 1989 in Gateshead, England. He started his professional career with Newcastle United in 2006, before spending a brief period on loan with Preston North End, during which time he scored his first league goal. He established himself as a regular in the Newcastle first team by 2008, and following Newcastle's relegation from the Premier League to the championship in 2009, scored 17 goals in 39 appearances to help Newcastle finish first in the league, earning immediate promotion back to the Premier League in the process. He continued to play for Newcastle in the Premier League, scoring 11 goals in 19 appearances. After Newcastle's game at home to Blackpool, Blackpool manager Ian Holloway described Carroll as the best striker in the Premier League.

Although, Carroll was signed on the 31 January 2011, An injury sustained in December delayed his Liverpool debut until March 2011, He finally made his Liverpool debut as a substitute in the 3–1 win against Manchester United on 6 March 2011 and scored his first two goals for his new club in April 2011 in a 3–0 victory over Manchester City.

However, Carroll has failed to light up Anfield ever since signing for Liverpool. He has played 35 matches in the league so far scoring 5 times; he however has been the unluckiest player this season for the Reds hitting the crossbar more than 5 times, although I am not implying that he has been outstanding yet unlucky. He hasn’t been as effective with his heading for which he has often been compared to Newcastle legend Alan Shearer, Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and also to former Newcastle and Everton striker Duncan Ferguson due to his skill in the air. He is referred to as a classic No. 9 centre forward, owing to his strength, powerful shot and excellent heading ability, none of which has however worked so far this season. Astonishing it might be, but he hasn’t scored a single goal from his head yet.

During his days at Newcastle United  Former Toon manager Kevin Keegan stated "he is probably in the top three headers of a ball I have ever seen in football" the statement at this moment looks very distant from the truth.

Carroll had been disappointing for Liverpool more often than not. His heading is poor, first touch has been woeful and his positioning sense is really disappointing. He just doesn’t look like someone who is worth of £35 million that Liverpool paid for him. Just as much I would love to like him, cheer for him and love him; I am just not able to do it. I understand that he had no control over his price when the transfer took place and in fact he was Liverpool’s sort of panic buy, I however had hoped that he would be great at Liverpool and was a excited though Torres’ departures saddened me a lot.

It has been a mixed reaction from the fans regarding Carroll. Some feel that he needs time and he should be given time to improve while others want him to be sold.

I remember King Kenny saying that we have signed Carroll for 5 years not 5 weeks. He needs time to settle into a new club he’s only 22 years old and he’s improving every day. The improvement however has been very gradual and slow so far. I am not blind to what’s happening on the pitch, I see that he has improved for sure but the improvement is coming at a very slow rate. Going by the rate of his improvement I see him becoming a striker who scores a total of 10-15 goals the entire season in the League, the Domestic Cup and Europa matches, which I think is not a very good return for a centre forward. I don’t see him turning into a world class striker though I would very much love him to prove me wrong on this. Just as much I want him to succeed at Liverpool, I hate to say it but I don’t see it coming neither do I see him surpassing Fernando Torres in any way.

Being one of those ardent Liverpool FC supporters, I think that he is a Liverpool player; who needs the support and also deserves time to settle, on the contrary, I feel that he’s had enough time to prove himself as a Liverpool player. He has featured in more than 45 games in total, in a lot of these matches he came on as a substitute, which is enough time to prove himself. Despite putting in below par performances week in week out he has been given fair share of chances by Kenny Dalglish.

He looks to be under enormous pressure to perform because of his staggering transfer fee and media constantly dubbing him as a £35 million flop in every other article available on the internet and in the papers. Pressure can have negative impact more often than not, keeping in mind that he is still very young, it’s undeniable that most of his poor performance has a lot to do with it. Also the fact that he will have to fill in the boots of Fernando Torres who, during his time at Anfield has been nothing less than outstanding, did not help his cause as well. His performance after every match is constantly compared to Torres or the players who have worn the number 9 for Liverpool in the past.

It seems lately everyone wants to have a piece of Carroll, after every match he plays every expert wants to run a rant at his style of playing, not to mention making fun of Liverpool for paying £35 million for Carroll, when they could have got someone the likes of Agueros, Cavanis, Higuains or Benzemas for that amount. It’s not a very pleasant to see, read and hear these kind of thing, especially for an emotional supporter like me. 

I will support him as long as he plays for the team however I wouldn’t mind if the club finally decides to sell him. I wouldn’t term him as a flop though, which would be a bit harsh from my part, but I do admit that he has been thoroughly disappointing throughout his time at Anfield. There is still time and just as much I want him to be sold there is a part of me which is constantly hoping and praying that he proves everyone, including me, wrong and finally starts showing what he is made of.