You can buy my first e-book on Amazon in kindle format, it is called The Kopite View Season 2012-13, here is the link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kopite-View-Season-2012-13-ebook/dp/B00BMW7JTA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1362780961&sr=1-1
The book consists of my match reports and articles from earlier in the season. If you like my blog, you will like my book. All the money is going to help Hillsborough Families.
Carroll Never Got A Chance
Liverpool sold Andy Carroll to West Ham and cut their losses on a player that didn’t fit into new manager Brendan Rodgers’ plans. Carroll finally made the move to West Ham permanent after passing a medical ending speculation regarding his future.
Carroll signed from Newcastle for £35 million on January 31 2011. Carroll was recovering from injury at the time of signing and he had to wait some time before making his debut . Andy Carroll had a difficult start to life at Anfield as he struggled to find the net and he also looked to be struggling with his fitness after his injury setback.
Carroll’s first full season ended with Carroll in fine form as he netted the winner in the FA Cup semi-final against Everton before coming on as substitute in the final against Chelsea to score again and change the game as Liverpool just missed out on another trophy. A few days later Carroll tormented the Chelsea defence again as Liverpool gained revenge by defeating the Blues at Anfield in the league.
That summer led to Liverpool’s manager Kenny Dalglish’s departure and Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers taking over the Anfield hot seat.
Dalglish’s departure signalled the end of Carroll’s career as a Liverpool player as Brendan Rodgers hastened to move him on albeit on loan before the end of the summer transfer window. It seemed a crazy decision to let Carroll, go as Liverpool were left short of strikers in their squad. They did try to bring Fulham’s Clint Demspey to Anfield on the last day of the transfer window but it fell through and left Liverpool very short of strikers.
Brendan Rodgers came into Anfield and stated that every player would be given a chance, well I don’t think he gave Carroll much of chance by moving him out so quickly even with a shortage of strikers.
In fairness to Rodgers he does have a style of play that he wants his team to play and a certain type of player to fit into his team, Carroll was not his type of player for his team. Regardless of the amount of money that Liverpool Football Club paid for Carroll, Rodgers was not in any way going to work with Carroll to coach him into fitting into his team’s style of play. OK so Carroll was an investment from the previous management team at Anfield, but I got a feeling that by getting rid of Carroll so quickly was like an announcement to Dalglish and his staff that Carroll was a waste of money.
If a club pay so much money for a player then you would think that they would give him every opportunity to fit into the team and to find his form. Chelsea and Torres is a prime example as they even changed manager to bring the best out of their struggling expensive investment.
But Liverpool and Rodgers refused to give Carroll time and this week ultimately cut their losses by selling him to West Ham after his season’s loan spell at Upton Park.
It is surprising that Liverpool’s owners allowed Rodgers to move the big striker on after they invested so much money on him. But at the same time it is to be applauded that the owners are allowing Rodgers the freedom to make his decisions of who he wants and doesn’t want in his team, even if the player moving out has cost a lot of money.
Carroll is a big strong player who can lead the line well and he is also dangerous in the air. Carroll is also valuable at defending set-pieces with his heading ability. His powerful left foot shot is also a highlight of his abilities and he would have given Liverpool another attacking option.
Many experts thought that Liverpool lacked a plan B in attacking options this season under the leadership of Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool were left at times frustrated in trying to break teams down especially at Anfield where some teams sat very deep intent on frustrating Liverpool’s passing game and preventing Liverpool space to penetrate. But the option of Carroll in attack would have posed a different problem for opposing defences and gave them something different to think about instead of the predictable style set by Rodgers.
Most good teams need a plan B option for when things are not going right and good managers know when to use it. Barcelona are about the only team that don’t use a plan B but that is because they are so good and don’t need one anyway.
The other disappointing thing about Carroll’s departure is the reluctance by Rodgers to work with him and mould him into the player that he would like for his team. Carroll is not a veteran and has many years ahead of him where he could have been coached and he should have been coached.
Andy Carroll’s career at Liverpool will go down as a flop and one of the worst signings in history. But it didn’t need to be that way if he had been given a chance after Kenny’s departure and if you don’t get a chance to prove yourself then what chance do you have.
This article is not intended to be a criticism of Brendan Rodgers’ management style, I am just being highly critical of Rodgers’ treatment of Carroll and like all managers he has favourite players and players that he doesn’t like and unfortunately for Carroll, his face didn’t fit.
The Carroll episode is now closed at Liverpool and I’m sure everyone wishes him all the best at his new club at West Ham where I’m sure he will be more appreciated by his manager.
The hope now is for Rodgers to bring in the right players to improve Liverpool in their quest for Champions League football.
The Kopite View 
Good article…! think we could have given him a chance…he’s still young
He had 58 chances to impress and really only shone in about 6/7 games and was shocking in about 20 of them… Liverpool struggled to break down defences with Carroll in the team under KK too.
I hear your argument, but lets look at the performance and business perspective. Brendan prefers to operate with a mobile forward operating in the centre of a front three. He needs someone there with guile, good ball control and a degree of pace. It was obvious to him during pre-season that Carrol was a throwback to the traditional british centre forward who could be used as a bulked up battering ram, but he neither posses pace, guile and good ball control. No amount of coaching would develop that in the player. From a business perspective it would not have been prudent to sit with a depreciating asset on the bench for a season, whose value would plummet through the floor if he didn’t get game time. Carrol would become disenfranchised and critical – something a new coach does not need. It was bold of Rogers to ship him out with insufficient cover, but he was sure that this player would add little to the squad and it would be better for the club to a) get a loan fee and wages off the books and b) allow the player game time and retain some sell on value.
Looking at last season, the decision would appear justified, as whilst we lacked a plan B of an battering ram forward, Carrol was injured through much of the season and only scored 7 goals in a team set-up for his style. It would have been better if we could have got Sturridge earlier, but he showed after Christmas just what Rogers was looking for in a forward. Rogers and his coaching team are professionals and would have seen enough to determine what players would and would not fit, and we need to trust in them a little.
Thanks for reading and I respect your comments and thanks for taking the time to reply to my article.
Absolute spot on. Keep it up then. Ynwa!
Delighted hammers fan here. Our fans love big andy. Good luck for he new season and up the hammers
I have said exactly the same as you in these Liverpool websites all season. I think it was very bad management to dispose of your leading striker before replacing him in the window. Moreover, I wonder how many draws could have been converted into wins by changing the tactics. As it turned out Andy Carroll got injured and was unavailable for much of the season but Brendan Rodgers was not to know that would happen. I have never known a successful General to allow his enemy to know in advance what tactics he will deploy on the battlefield. I think Big Sam does it right; Long ball, ticky tacky.passing, wing play etc are all tools in a managers locker. GOOD MANAGERS ARE NOT PREDICTABLE! For the 90 minute ‘war’ the opposition strengths dictate the tactics. I think Brendan Rodgers simply said ‘£35m – I’ll show you’! Last season the loan rule provided him with immunity against big Andy. It will be interesting to see what happens when we play West Ham in the coming season. I can hardly wait!
Congratulations for recognising one of the benefits provided by a “big” striker – their ability to help out defending set pieces. Caroll’s value to West Ham wasn’t just his goals and forward play – it was his ability to defend corners and free kicks which helped us to hold on to valuable points.
It is this attribute which is often overlooked by commentators and pundits – though, oddly enough, they always mention it when referring to players like Drogba – but it is a valuable asset to have at times..
Personally, it is an attribute I believe that England could use at times – remember how we struggled at set pieces against Montenegro? With a big striker back helping out that is less likely to happen than it is when you have Rooney or Defoe.
I don’t think Caroll got the chance he deserved at Liverpool, either. I think Dalglish saw elements of Ian Rush in him, but he never got the chance to put that into effect – but he also didn’t have a Dalglish to play along side him either!
For what it’s worth, everyone raves about Barcelona these days – but for me, if you wanted a club team to look up to and a style of play to aspire to, it would have to be the Liverpool sides of the late seventies and early eighties.
Now that WAS football!