THE 2011-12 season kicks off this weekend and Liverpool fans are counting down the hours, minutes and seconds in anticipation of what they believe will be the year the Reds get back into the Champions League.

Two men who will be key in achieving that ambition are Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez. The pair were signed in January to replace Fernando Torres and will be responsible for scoring the goals to lift Liverpool back up the table. However, due to Carroll’s lengthy lay-off at the start of the year the pair have only played together five times, which is not enough to form a title winning partnership. Suarez has missed most of pre-season after competing in- and winning- the Copa America and has now been given time off to recover from the competition, so it looks as if the pair will not get the chance to play together before the start of the new campaign. Liverpool will need to be scoring goals and winning games right from the off if they are to be challenging at the top this season. But if Carroll and Suarez are not yet sure how to play together, will they score the goals to get Liverpool back into the Champions League?

There is no doubt in either player’s ability to score goals. Luis Suarez is a natural goal-scorer. He is quick, skilful and has great movement, which makes him difficult to mark. The Uruguayan likes to play on the shoulder of the last man and push him deep towards the goal, but can also pull out wide into the flanks and create space for his team-mates to run into. He is a clever player, a team player and is aware of everything, but what makes Suarez a deadly striker is his ability to score from different positions. The Uruguayan can score with a smart finish inside the area, can shoot from distance and is a free-kick specialist, and he can do the impossible as we saw against Sunderland last season. While playing for Dutch giants Ajax in the Eridivise Suarez scored 111 goals in 159 games, including a remarkable 49 goals in 48 games during the 2009-10 season. His career total is 142 goals from 242 games. He has played with some of the best strikers in the world including Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan and was part of the Uruguay team that reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2010. His style of play has seen him compared to Kenny Dalglish by former Liverpool centre-back Mark Lawrenson.

“Lots of people have arrived at Liverpool and people have said they remind me of Dalglish and they never were because he was so special, but Suarez might just be the closest,” Lawrenson said.
“He’s got all the ability in the world and a real mean streak. He is a top player. Kenny’s eyes light up when he talks about him. He’s got that little bit of everything and when you see goals like he scored at Sunderland last season you ask yourself ‘how’s he done that?’, which was another trait Dalglish had.
“He’s got great ability. He is very aware of everything, a real team player, a handful to play against and like all South Americans can really look after himself. Players like Diego Maradona and Carlos Tevez found themselves getting booted on a regular basis but were tough and could give it back. Suarez is the same.”

While Suarez was competing for Ajax in the Europea League against teams like Juventus and Anderlecht in the 2009-10 season, Carroll was competing in the Championship for Newcastle against teams like Plymouth Argyle and Doncaster Rovers… Bit of a difference… In that season Carroll scored 17 goals in 39 games and in his first six months in the Premier League he scored 11 times in 19 games, including a hat-trick against Aston Villa in a 5-0 win. His goals earned him his first England call-up against France in November and his second against Ghana in March- when he scored his first international goal.

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10 responses to “Will Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez form the partnership to fire Liverpool back into the top four?”

  1. abids says:

    boys u can make d different.up boys,up reds and up king kenny

  2. eric darko says:

    yes they will

  3. Bill Shankly says:

    Top 4 ?
    If we arent top 2 I’ll never post again !
    It wont just be a csse of Cartroll & Suarez you have to throw Kuyt into the mix too because of injury & suspension & perhaps even a dip in form .
    I also think its unfair to burden them with getting us any particular league finish because all you can realistically expect from a front 2 , thats a pairing now not a lone striker , is 1 goal every game .
    In Carroll , Kuyt & Suarez , any 2 from those 3 have more than enough quality to at any time throughout the season mix & match with eachother & easily provide us with those figures .
    If our front two dont give us 40 goals then we need to be looking at bringing in new blood .

  4. Gerrardious says:

    @Bill: Never post again?? I gotta hand it to u man. i envy the way u always stick ur neck out and stand by ur point. I remember u also sayin something about Carroll scoring 25 goals in some older post… as for me, I’ld rather sit back and watch cos I dont like having to eat my words.
    I think Suarez will be brilliant but as for Carroll…. dear Carroll …….we have a giant striker who (needless to say) is terrific in the air, has good close control, can hold up the ball under pressure and has a good shot on his favourite foot. I feel he could still work on his pace, link up play, and reaction (he spends to much time on the ball before shifting it to the next man in a good attackin position). Also the issue of his control which has raised some debate amongst us the fans. He needs to work on his spontenous control without killing or slowing down the attack.
    That being said, I believe Carroll will develop into a complete striker who will be a pain in the backside of any defender (isn’t he already?) over the next 1 or two seasons. we just need to forget about the price, give him our full support and not expect too much from him.
    Can he combine well with Suarez? we’ll see.

    • Bill Shankly says:

      Listen man ,
      If you ever played the game at even a half decent under age level you wont find a forward who wouldnt love playing alongside an Andy Carroll or a Peter Crouch .
      If you remember Kevin Phillips & Niall Quinn together at Sunderland Or Alan Smith & Ian Wright at Arsenal or even Micheal Owen & Emille Heskey then you will kno what I mean .
      A Big man like Carroll is there to win it , hold it up & lay it off in between 2 & 3 touches every time , if Suarez cant play along side a dream come true like that then he cant play football .
      If its a fast break ya wanna see then dont be passin it to Andy , its as simple as that .
      Ya can ask a Shark to be a Dolphin all day long if ya want but only a fool would because at the end of tha day the Shark is gonna be a , guess what ? … thats right , hes still gonna be a shark .
      Simple mathematics tells me he is gonna score 25 goals in all competitions .
      We average in or around 8 corners per game , we deliver almost twice that number of free kicks into the box so outa all those deliverys we only need a maximum of 3 to reach him & he has more than enough quality to bury 1 outa every 3 chances that come his way either with his head , his feet or his magical pony tail .
      If he becomes our regular penalty taker then thats between another 5 & 10 goals allowing him to miss one or two .
      Those stats only apply if he is a bean pole that cant play .
      Thats not Andy Carroll .
      The big man is fast over 20 – 30 yards , he is a nightmare in full flight , like Kuyt he doesnt fanny around & over complicate things in or around the box , he takes a touch & gets something on target or he lays it off & instantly moves away looking for the return or rebound .
      His movement off the ball is excellent which is why he usually gets a running start on defenders & he is fearless from crosses .He makes the great Christian Veri look like a pussy !
      My faith is not based on Andys unquestionable talents alone , he is only a piece of the jigsaw .
      My faith is in the artist whos footballing vision we will be playing out in living breathing colour next season .
      My faith isnt blind , when I was a cocky arrogant kid I didnt believe in him , I believed he was lucky to be at LFC & it was because he was at LFC he was successful , he couldn’t go wrong , I believed any half decent manager could lead LFC to the title & win cups .
      Then he left us ,
      We employed the best of the rest ,
      He went & won the Title for another Club ,
      He took yet another club to a cup final & got em a top 2 finish in very difficult near impossible conditions ,
      Then he went to Scotland & in yet more difficult conditions went & won the League cup up there ,
      Every year he was away we moved further & further away from winning the Title we haven’t won since he left us .
      Now he is back ,
      Its like he has never been away & The Real Slim Shady is finally about to stand up !
      Kenny gets his teams playing a certain way .
      Kenny gets LFC playing a certain way .
      I’ve seen every viable option without him & the only answer is this
      We are blessed to have him , so lets enjoy our time coz its not going to last forever .
      Theres only one LFC , Theres only one Kenny Dalglish , a very special club married to a very special Football Man , in our time in our era .
      Expect a League Title .
      Expect a Champions League .
      Expect all Domestic Cups
      Expect to be disappointed if we dont win em all in one season every season .
      Thats how good Kenny Dalglish & Liverpool Football Club go together , thats not bluff or hype , thats factual experience talking , ask anyone who was lucky enough to be conscious the first time around , the man is a magician who makes Fergie look like a pretender .
      You are in for a treat .
      Wear the club colors with pride , dare to dream & you will never walk alone young Red , you will never walk alone .

  5. what i like about the two is that they are very different, putting their abilities together it will form one hell of an partnership that will scure every PL side.
    the only thing am hoping for tho is for them to have the understanding of each other.

  6. Simon says:

    Suarez is brilliant with Kuyt or Forlan. Carroll is not that type of striker. Carroll combines well with Downing. With all 4 on the pitch, they would form 2 pairs of attackers coming at defences with 2 different styles. However, to have that many forwards on the pitch, we’d need to put on more balanced midfielders like Gerrard, Meireles or Henderson, which would compromise or defence. We were leaky in pre-season largely due to the absence of Lucas, and if Lucas plays, at least 2 other central mids will be required – ideally Adam on the left and either of Gerrard/Henderson on the right, maybe with Aquilani on top if we are going wingless. Alternatively, we can play 2 strikers and a winger with Adam/Spearing and Lucas behind and either Aquilani/Meireles/Stevie in the hole.

  7. Subhaditya says:

    I am sure andy and swerez will score goles for reds