sorry son all 3 of me decided what youre doing just isnt right ... high heels and a bowie suit dont go
The author is spot on. Carroll have had 18 months to build a partnership and they still looked like two indviduals, not a partnership, towards the end of this season. Suarez plays it through to Carroll who is caught on his heels and doesn't anticipate the pass OR Carroll flicks it on for Suarez to run onto but he drops deep instead expecting Carroll to knock the ball down to him. If they didn't get it right in 18 months then I don't think they're ever going to get it right. I think Rodgers has identified the fact that it is time to choose between Suarez and Carroll and it seems he has rightly opted to go with Suarez and dispose of Carroll.
I still don't see why he needs to choose between them. Do the top teams just have one option. No they have different options for different occasions. If we are going to be playing a formation that often has 3 up front why even think about selling one already there? We aren't exactly blessed with options as it is are we? And was it really 18 months together? Carroll was out for nearly 3 months after he signed and with Suarez away for the Copa then being suspended for a couple of months its not like they have had a full season and a half together is it. Personally I saw big improvements in Andys game over the last few months of the season and Suarez was definitely learning what the big man was going to do (or at least try to do). Did you really expect them to click instantly? On rare ocassions two players click straight away but these players were both new to the club, neither of them speaks the lingo very well and have hardly come from even remotely similar footballing backgrounds so it was always going to take time to bond.
I don't think having 'options' is about having 2 or 3 diverse players who are nothing alike in each position. I think its more about having quality in depth so if a player does suffer a dip in form then you've got a capable replacement to bring in. Like Man Utd do with Nani and Valencia. Nani suffers a dip in form then Valencia steps in and vice versa. Same with Hernandez and Welbeck, they're the same type of player, forwards who like playing on the shoulder of the defender its just they are there to make the squad deep in terms of quality and options. I don't think top clubs would play Andy Carroll, or even have him as a squad option, because he is technically poor, doesn't have enough movement as a lone forward and doesn't have enough pace either. I saw improvements too, I think we got to see glimpses of the Carroll that was at Newcastle at the end of last season rather than the Carroll that had been playing for Liverpool since his transfer. But I'm still not sure the Andy Carroll of Newcastle is good enough to be starting for us week in week out. I personally think the time of the Duncan Ferguson type forwards who were aggressive and in your face is over, as they simply get penalised too often by referees and because of the change to lone strikers from the two up top in the 90s and 80s. You need to either be technically excellent with excellent movement and/or very agile to play up top on your own these days, and I don't think Carroll is either of those things.
I agree about United having similar options they can swap around but consider a different example...City who have very different options and won the league. Dzeko and Ballo and Aguero and Tevez Dzeko had a big part to play in keeping them in and around the top places all year. Class he isn't but useful he is. Carroll might not get in either of the top teams but had a club like Arsenal had different options over the last few years they may well have challenged more consistently instead of having to rely on Chamack (sp) or Gervinho as cover for RVP. I don't think anyone's saying he is world class or the greatest thing since sliced bread but have we really got the resources to be sendingh a 35million quid player out on loan or taking a 15-20 million pound hit in 18 months? If someone came and offered us our money back for him then fair enough but that ain't happening. IMO opinion he's worth keeping even if its just to give John Terry and also Evertons back 4 nightmares again
This hits the nail on the head! It's hard to instill a new philosophy or style of football if you have these so called 'different options'. It's almost as if you need seperate training sessions to train the technically gifted, and the 'different options'. To succeed, everyone needs to pull in the same direction. By having a consistent style of play which runs through all of the players at the club, it enables us to put in other players straight into a system which they are already accustomed to (in the event of any injuries).
I understand what you're saying here but what if it isn't the players that aren't performing? what if the opposition have nullified our tactics? Chelsea did this to Barcelona and they needed to try something different but they didn't have a plan B.
Agreed - whilst I can understand the footballing reasons behind Rodgers's 'dislike' for Carroll, it doesn't really make financial sense to lose £10-£15m on an English striker (guaranteed premium!) who has recently found form and can look devastating in the right team.
I personally believe that if that game was played another 100 times, Barca would win the majority of them. And this will sound stupid because Chelsea did win the tie overall but it's not as if Plan A didn't entrirely work for Barca - they battered Chelsea in the first leg and were guilty of doing a LFC by missing plenty of chances, and they would have won the second game 2-1 had it not been for Torres at the end (as Barca had to throw everybody forward).
Surely great managers can change a teams tactics mid game nevermind instilling different plans mid-training session. Its all very well relying on one style when you are as good at it as Barca or Spain....but this whole idea of becoming totally one dimensional straight away strikes fear into my lard filled heart. We have not yet got the forwards to play the system nevermind the strength in depth to have 3 forwards AND game changing players on the bench. Why the hell would we be looking to shift a striker out then? (If indeed we actually are)
