Date: 2nd February 2011 at 8:37am
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35 million pounds for Carroll is an obvious over valuation but at mid-season we could not afford to be without a top premiership striker. Suarez will likely take time to get up to speed (unless we catch a real big break there) so we need someone who can hit the ground running. Remember after Owen left on deadline day and we had to survive the season with Baros and Cisse. Baros was a solid number two striker and Cisse was still trying to figure out how to play in the Prem.

I think we did the right thing. Carroll is only 22 so his value, at around 20-25mill will not go down too quickly. And there is the upside that at that age he may actually appreciate to beyond the 35mill level.

The one-two punch of Carroll and Suarez is actually really exciting for me. It means a shift in our style of football. With one up we always asked our wide midfielders and attacking mid to get up quickly in order to allow our attack to hold the ball. With two up permanently we should be better able to retain possession higher up the field. I also feel Suarez is a tricky customer. He has that sudden movement that creates space. He’s not genuinely quick but he is a box striker in that he creates space with small movements. He is also has an eye for goal, as shown by his 138 goals in 230 games (0.6 goals to games ratio). Check out his 2009-10 season when he scored 49 goals in 48 games!!!!

He’s also played most of his career as a second striker alongside Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, then Marko Panteli?, and later Mounir El Hamdaoui.

He’s 24 years old so there is lots of upside to this transfer. If he and Carroll hit it off we could have a top strike partnership for the next 5 years.

 

5 responses to “A closer look at the Carroll – Suarez partnership”

  1. Manny says:

    What formation are we gonna use now?

    We haven’t sold Cole or sent him out on loan so for 90k a week I assume he must be in Kenny’s plans

  2. Benjamin says:

    With the financial rules coming into play, there is little chance his price will ever increase beyond 35 mil or even remain close to that. There are very few teams in world football that have the revenues to spend and break even both. Also 35 million isn’t that much for a 22 year old if you really believe in him, as 4 years from now when torres is old he’ll just be 26. in 8 years when torres is retired, he’ll still be in his prime at 30. We’ve essentially bought a 10 million striker 3 times or a 15 million 2 times however you choose to look at it, he will not need to be replaced anytime soon. The difference being his power and hold up play are things he can retain while pace and acceleration for torres are the first things to go and already are.

    • MoKo says:

      Excellent point. At his age he can provide years of service.

      I think we can formulate a player valuation system that includes discounting both future sale price and returns in the form of on field performance.

      One of the things I am most enthusiastic about is the sports business approach our new owners will bring across from NFL. It should benefit us greatly especially in the area of financial management of sporting assets.

  3. Sam says:

    Without a doubt one of the most nail biting transfer windows we, LFC, have had in a while. I’m glad the player who no longer wanted to play for us has gone and we made good money from the deal. Negotiating for a replacement was always going to be difficult what with everyone knowing how much we made from the Torres deal. 35m is a lot of money. I don’t doubt Carrol’s quality I hope he has the brains to keep his feet on the ground and justify the price tag. He is a better version of Peter Crouch, more athletic, more power and a pinch of arrogance. I dig that. I do feel that the missing piece in this jigsaw is a outright winger. Now that we have a tall player who can head and knock balls down and a shorter tricky player, our options are increased. We now need a winger to whip in those tentalising crosses. Its a pity the Jan transfer window is not ideal for such purchases, but hopefully with what we have we can play ourselves up the log and attract finer talent in the summer.

    Read this on the LFC forums: Torres, I hope Fat Frank eats you and John Terry shags your wife.