Ze, although we only knew about the deal just before the window closed I'm sure that the 3 clubs involved (Chelsea, Newcastle, Liverpool) were in talks well before that. Similar to the Meireles deal, we heard about it just before the window closed but you can bet your life the deal was going on throughout the day. That's why with half hour to go they said Meireles had handed a transfer request in, then 10 minutes later he had signed. When the transfer request was publicised it was basically the club saying Meireles had gone.
Speaking as an outsider, just seems now like a panic signing. Yes I understand you felt you needed a striker as Jan - May is a reasonably long period and yes Carroll back then was being praised (hyped probably more accurate) by the media and of course Newcastle for obvious reasons. I know £50 million was a lot for a player who wasn't his normal self and who wanted to leave and I don't recall what Torres's contract status was at that time but surely it would have better to wait until the summer to sell rather get rid of Torres and then agree to Newcastle's crazy valuation of Carroll? But even if you had decided £50 million for Torres was too good to turn down, why not risk the rest of the season with what you had left and then go shopping in the summer? After all you had just signed Suarez, had Kuyt and N'Gog plus Gerrard when fit can play in an advanced role. Anyway thanks for the reply since I was interested to get your view as other Liverpool fans (i.e. KPR) were claiming that the signing of Carroll was not a panic buy and that Liverpool were after the lad before selling Torres.
Consctrete - Torres had a £50 mil buy-out clause in his contract so we couldn't of done anything even if we wanted to. If we had waited till the summer and he had kept under performing we may of only got 20-30 mil for him if we decided to sell. At the end of the day the politics behind what happened in January are far more complex than we all know, so we can only really speculate about the truth
I didn't remember about the clause. Just think being the case maybe Liverpool should have waited until the summer to buy rather than be held to ransom by Ashley in Jan. Then again hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Yeah true, but then again all we really had available was N'gog and Kuyt. That could of been disastrous. It's a tough one as he clearly isn't ready for our style of play yet. I personally think we need to give him a run of 5-8 games, if he doesn't considerably improve bench him or put him in the reserves for a bit and see how we get on. One positive from the Jan window is we seem to of got a bargain when signing Suarez for just over 20 mil.
I sort of agree with you about game time, but I think he needs to be only played in certain games, same with Adam. Adam can't handle big games, Carroll can't handle defenders who jostle him and get in his way. He should be brilliant against a team that's a bit more open and perhaps with a higher defensive line.
Yeah Suarez was a good signing. Players from the Dutch league can be a bit of hit or miss. However the lad has quality, just look at the World Cup. Surprised he went to Liverpool to be honest as I thought other teams would have bid for him. Anyway while a good player his major weakness is his temperament. Think he will see red once or twice before the end of the season.
I hope he can control his temper but I am also glad that we have a player with a bit of an edge to him.
Yeah but the reason I say he needs to play 5-8 games on the trot is mainly to give him the confidence of knowing he'll be playing the next game. He may be able to settle a bit then not knowing that he's gonna get benched if he doesn't do well, or even if he does do well. I was watching LFC TV the other night and the pundits (that were ex-strikers) were saying that knowing you'll be playing the next game gives you an incredible lift and enables you to settle into the team. For a player that hasn't settled yet to be not starting more often than starting, just makes settling in twice as hard. It is a tough call because do we have 5-8 games to try it out, as the premier league moves so fast these days we can't afford to drop further down the table. So realistically it's not an easy decision.
Bit like Rooney then. You want players with passion and drive, you just don't want them elbowing opposition players on the head or biting them!!!
I'm more concerned about him shouting at refs and linesmen constantly to be honest. In my opinion he should of been sent off just before half time at Spurs.
Yeah I did see him shout a few times at the ref. He should be reminded about Mascherano and English refs.
Hopefully It's just a case of him getting used to premier league refs, and what's tolerated and what's not. I like a player with a bit of fire in their belly, but they must also know when to control it.
I agree, nearly all of the time I understand his frustration, but sometimes he needs to know when to shut up!
Spot on, I think Liverpool needed a player like him, just hope he can resist taking a chunk out of someone.
