Liverpool’s transfer policy has come in for some severe stick from naysayers the world over this summer – myself included – however, as Kenny Dalglish begins to make his own indelible mark on a squad that lacks both quality and depth, a larger picture begins to emerge; all of the targets either acquired or in the latter stages of negotiations have been pursued with one aim in mind – getting the best out of and utilising the talents of the club’s record signing, Andy Carroll.
Stewart Downing looks all but assured to complete his move to Liverpool from Aston Villa within the next few days for a fee in the region of £20m – a wholly ridiculous valuation given the player’s actual ability. Even given the inevitable inflated premium that you have to stump up for English talent it seems a tad over the mark to say the least.
However, if you factor in that Downing has had the most completed crosses in the Premier League – 135 to be exact – in the last three seasons and it’s clear why he’s being pursued so fervently.
What has become clear, despite his injury troubles after signing for the club in January, through no fault of his own may I hastily add, is that the club simply did not have the players capable of getting the best out of Carroll. There isn’t a natural winger at the club at the moment and that means you drastically limit Carroll’s sizeable impact in the air.
To put it quite simply, the club have had to reinvest nearly £100m on top of their initial outlay of £35m on the big man to ensure that they get the best out of his undoubted potential. Those are some weighty figures to carry around on your shoulders.
Charlie Adam has also signed for the club for roughly £7m despite being out of contract next summer. The club’s keenness to sign the Scot after just one year of top flight action is in part down to his superb set-piece delivery. Without Adam’s free-kicks and corners last season – which notably rendered 9 assists and 12 goals – Blackpool would have been sunk a lot sooner than the final day of the season.
Even Jordan Henderson, a player that almost everyone can agree that the club have overpaid for, represents a bargain of sorts when you factor in the reasoning behind his purchase.
While Samir Nasri can look to command a fee upwards of £20m this summer despite having just a year left on his contract and Luka Modric is caught in a tug-of-war between his current club Spurs and suitors Chelsea; a battle that’ll surely see his fee soar above the £30m mark – the salient point that Henderson has created just as many goal scoring chances in the last two seasons is worth remembering – 110 to be precise.
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Nice article m8.
what about suarez??? :S all the emphasis is on andy carroll just because hes british, and suarez is being overlooked slightly :S we have one of the deadliest marksmen in the world in luis suarez, i think dalglish and comolli need to remember that instead of worrying constantly about the less prolific andy carroll….. :S just my opinion…. suarez has the potential to be one of the worlds best players, so i think they need to realise that they need to worry about him too…. i reckon if dalglish had another english striker, he would drop suarez to the bench…. look at it this way, hes going to drop meireles & aquilani for adam and henderson, because they’re british….. :S very frustrating!!!!!!
We didnt spend 100m on top of carrols 35m.your figures are inaccurate! carrol and suarez combined was 58m which was equall to babel and torres sales of 50m + 8m. All we have spent is 20m downing, 16m henderson, 7m adam equalling 43m.
This article lacks insight!
Each player purchased by Dalglish is technically sound! They can control a ball, pass a ball! Liverpool pre Dalglish where one dimensional (under both Rafa and more so Hodgson)! Everything went through the middle! We played 9 men behind the ball with only 2 attackers (Gerrard and Torres). Dalglish wants to keep the ball and attack with flair from all over the pitch! If we need to go through the middle, we go through the middle! If we need to go down the line and break teams down that way, we go down the line! All the players can score a goal and create a goal for each other!
This is not just about Carrol. This is a about the team.
“The most important people at the football club are the ones who are fit and able to play. Kenny Dalglish
Yes Carroll can head a ball but he’s not the only one!!!
“Nobody is certain as to how Dalglish will line his Liverpool charges up this season. It could be 4-3-3, 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1”
This fact alone is worth its weight in gold.
It simultaneously excites the living hell out of me and scares the living hell out of opposing teams’ managers.
I thought the article was decent.
@SuaRed and Jevon
I smell what you’re cooking and the rock says it smells good.
It is truly staggering the amount of money we have wasted .. 85m om Downing.. Carroll..Henderson..Adam..that is an absolute joke! And if Manshitty had spent that we would be here mocking them for spending like drunk crackwhores.. but bcuz it’s Dalglish…and we all know he walks on water and cures the blind… then they are somehow great buys!
@DEE.. could not agree more.. Carroll is not even in the same class as Suarez but somehow he is getting all the hype.. he can’t carry Suarez’s jock!… typical overhyped Brit press…
youll both be eating your words in time.
i think that Adam and Downing will help Carroll, But i think it will be bad for Suarez beacuse he wants the ball on the Ground and with those players the ball will never touch the ground.
Having good crossers of the ball does not make Suarez useless, rather it creates more tap ins for him cos Carroll would naot always be the one to head in d balls, he could have knock downs, other midfielders could get on the end of the crosses or the it could even be a pull back or square pass which Suarez would thrive on! Johnson/Kelly and maybe Cissokho attacking from fullback positions would bring a new dimension to our attacking style as our strikers would get chances from all angles! People would be surprised what we’d do to these so called big-player teams. Players we’ve bought asides Carroll are players that are highly motivated and focused and would give their 110% to make a name for themselves, this spirit would tear other teams down and could be our psychological edge. Can’t wait to see our starlets come through, Sterling, Suso, morgan, Coady, Ngoo, Silva etc!
Actually it was Carrolls fault he was injured since it was on one of his legendary binges that he fell off a bar stool and done his leg in
4-3-3, 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1 LOL they are actually the SAME formation you know? Haha go and learn something about football
everyone is always talkin about what Carroll can do with his head as if his legs are totally useless.
The guy is brave, raw, has a terrific presence in the box n very hungry for someone his age and I’ll love to see his improvements over the season. I just hope he stays fit. Suarez will also create chances for him.
@ John. How are they the same formation? They are all different! YOU need to go learn something about football.
4-3-3: 1 CDM, 2 CM, 2 highly attacking wingers, 1 Target man.
4-5-1: 1 CDM, 2 CM, 2 Wide players equal in attacking and defending as they are not so far down the pitch. 1 striker.
4-2-3-1: 2 CDM, 3 attacking midfielders, 1 striker. More suited to Suarez upfront as he is getting through balls rather than crosses. Seriously, you are an idiot…
4-3-2-1 and 4-4-2 will be opted mostly …
4-3-2-1:-
carrol/ngog;
suarez; charlie adam/stewart downing ; raul/maxi..
lucas/henderson ; aquilani/gerrard
cissokho/insua/robinson; carragher; skertel/agger; kelly/johnson;
reina;
4-4-2:-
suarez ; carrol/ngog;
downing/maxi; adam/raul; aquilani/henderson; cole/gerrard;
defense same as above;
4-3-3(low chances especially against slow plays):-
carrol/suarez;
suarez/raul ; adam/cole;
downing/maxi; henderson/gerrard;
aquilani/lucas ;
defense same as above;
ag please Sai you have no idea how he is gonna play. Championship manager does not count. this is the real world.
wow what a mixed bag of comments lol, it’s obvious to look at the signings that KD, wants better service and movement from the side, remember the pain of watching us at the beginning of last season, back and sideways.
Adams is brilliant at picking out an early pass, something Suarez thrives on, anything thrown up to Carrol is likely to be played down into dangerous areas where our new much more mobile team should have plenty of players and options.
Downing the same from a different angle, not completely sold on Henderson yet but his ‘stats’ say he does the same.
Aqua man again plays clever incisive passes, but am a bit concerned when he’s in our half…
One note of caution which I think is now being addressed we need a strong holding type player to support the back four,(Lucas sort of does this job but not natural for him and like every other position we need cover and competition) and enable the flair players to do their thing un fettered.
There is also a danger that some of the talented youth that seem to be bubbling under may become discouraged.
How ever it works out it should be an interesting season.
i wouldnt mind seeing the following. not saying its the best one ok! haha!
Carrol
Downing Suarez
Adam Gerrard
lucas
Cissokho Johnson
Skrtel Carragher
Reina
I’m surprised no one has even mentioned a 4-1-3-2 formation which I think would world a lot better if we have Suarez and Carroll upfront… better than a 4-3-3, 4-3-2-1, 4-5-1
Either that or a 3-5-2, the formation Dalglish was so fond of last season and I think will be his most common this season. 🙂