We thought Carroll would be Liverpool's Drogba... but his £35m price tag gave him no chance at Anfield
By JAMIE CARRAGHER
PUBLISHED: 22:56, 4 April 2014 | UPDATED: 01:50, 5 April 2014
What happened to the big No 9? When I was growing up, it seemed like nearly every team had a powerful centre-forward leading the line.
Graeme Sharp and Andy Gray, for instance, were the spearheads of the Everton team I watched but plenty of other clubs went to war with imposing main strikers.
Football has changed since then. Forwards are quick, nimble; the emphasis is on pace and movement. So when you get a striker who is a throwback to a different era, one who is big, strong and aggressive, defenders struggle to cope with the challenge.
I saw that in Andy Carroll when I watched West Ham beat Sunderland on Monday. When he is on song, Andy can be unplayable and there was a great scene after he had scored his goal of him wheeling away to celebrate as two defenders lay flat on their backs.
It took me back to the days of the ‘battering rams’ and evoked memories of men such as Mick Harford and Duncan Ferguson, those who would launch themselves to get their head to a ball. Nobody would stand in their way.
Trust me: those forwards are a nightmare to face. It’s impossible to enjoy a game when you have to mark them as it becomes a war of attrition. You are constantly grappling and you come off drained as it feels like all you have done is fight for headers.
Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger will know what is coming at Upton Park, as West Ham will look to get it wide, then get it in to Andy during a game that is crucial to Liverpool’s hopes of winning the Barclays Premier League.
Andy, no doubt, will believe he has a point to prove given how quickly Brendan Rodgers ended his time at Anfield — he only got two brief substitute appearances that amounted to 18 minutes — but the decision to move him on was in everyone’s best interests.
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.
How he performs at Upton Park will be intriguing. Allardyce will wind Andy up to deliver a big effort, primarily to get the win that will secure West Ham’s safety but also to fire out a message to Roy Hodgson with the World Cup in mind.
Allardyce believes Andy will make it ‘impossible for Roy Hodgson to ignore him’ if he reproduces his finish to last season when scoring six goals in 13 games and he is moving towards that ratio with two goals in his last five appearances.
Personally I believe Rickie Lambert would be closer to the fourth striker’s spot at the moment, if England’s head coach wants to bring a different kind of player.
I think Lambert offers more goals and another string to his bow is his outstanding penalty record.
It makes me smile when I hear people mention him as a ‘plan B’ to go more direct. Do other countries have this ‘plan B’ when things aren’t going well?
Should Andy stay fit and score a few more goals then maybe he will sway Hodgson, who saw him score a brilliant header against Sweden during Euro 2012. The big challenge, however, is for Andy to start playing football consistently.
Three of his last four seasons have been ruined by injury and he doesn’t want to be remembered for his fitness record. He is 25 and to get to the highest levels again, he has to realise the importance of looking after himself. Should Andy do that, he’ll have every chance of becoming a true No 9.
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