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Calling out Carroll

Comment: 0 September 15th, 2011 by: admin

The Fernando Torres story has ravaged and dominated the media to the point of it becoming borderline sickening.  However it seems a similar story is about to play out, this time within the walls of Anfield Stadium.

Enter Andy Carroll, Liverpool’s new Number 9 (last season, anyway).

The truth of the matter is that as he remains in anxious wait for his old Newcastle form, the agitation in the air begins to thicken.  With Torres’ stint at Chelsea fast becoming a cautionary tale, Carroll is in danger of going down the same road.

Of course, that’s mere opinion.  But the stark, bold and unquestionable facts don’t exactly point the opposite direction.

Bought for a glittering £35 million, Carroll is currently the most expensive British footballer.  His transfer from Newcastle to Liverpool was the stuff of headlines and top stories.  And coming in after Torres’ departure, the ponytailed star with six successful months in the Premier League had become the new beacon of hope both for the club and its supporters.

The sentiments, however, began to sink and get more diluted as the months passed.  And currently, Carroll is sitting on a flimsy 3 goals in a total of 13 games.

Saying that it’s the Torres story all over again might be a bit of an exaggeration at this point.  However the similarities cannot be denied: big hoopla, big money, high hopes, and close to no payoff.  For any football club manager, that’s no joke; and for any club owner, that’s bad business.

And to some extent, bad enough to cut the whole deal short.

Short-changed

With a mere six months of Premier League performance by the time he entered Anfield, Carroll was pegged as the next ray of sunshine carrying great potential.  And apparently the club thought that promise to have been worth £35 million.

In this case, the potential seen in Carroll has yet to be realised.  Granted, a great part of Carroll’s time at Anfield was spent recovering from a persistent knee injury.

Some may conclude (or at least suppose) that the key is for that massively expensive potential to break out and blaze through the Premier League.  If so, the question now is about patience.

That, however, is not a luxury handed out with unlimited supply.  And in the case of Liverpool, it may be safe to assume that the club paid £35 million for a top-notch player who could bring goals.  That amount was in no way intended for rehabilitation purposes.

But at 22, Carroll may have in his corner a reasonable amount of time to for his stride and form to come full blast.  But with the pressure of immediate results riding on his back – as the case was with Fernando Torres – concern may centre around the notion of whether or not the young lad could cope with it.

The atmosphere in Liverpool is most striking for Carroll especially considering how back in Newcastle, he was considered a man who could do no wrong.  His entrance into the club was met with overwhelming cheers and support, despite his shortcomings.

Even accounts of his off-the-field romps were forgiven.  And perhaps it was this attitude and philosophy that at the end of the day buoyed him and drew out the player that he was at Newcastle.

Nothing but promise and optimism stirred the air.  With the mentoring of Kenny Dalglish, Carroll would morph from a wild, rabid player to an athlete that could take the field with finesse and intimidation.

That transformation remains to be seen.

Baby on board

A danger that Carroll faces at the moment is the fact that his delicate situation threatens to experience a dismantling via factors outside his control.

Dalglish’s apparent refusal to criticise him in public has so far kept the questions and comments about his lacklustre performance at a safe distance.  The opposite is true, however, with England manager Fabio Capello.

Recent developments suggest that Capello, having no fatherly sentiments towards the boy, is more than willing to point out the faults, and name names.

In the case of the young striker, as far as Capello believes there is no time for excuses, mentor-student sentiments, or any other sissy-missy proceedings.  Either Carroll gets him goals, or he doesn’t.

And as caretaker of the English team, the Italian swooped in on the striker, bashing him for his choice of lifestyle.  As far as he was concerned, there was to be no sugar-coating, no protecting Carroll from the media.

For Capello, either Carroll shifts focus and delivers, or he stays on the substitute bench (if at all).  And this apparently required stern statements blatantly insisting that the striker was not in top form.

‘I think if he wants to be a good player, a good sportsman, he needs to drink less,’ the manager declared in a full-on press meet.

‘He needs to be careful because not only for the England team but for Liverpool.  I think he understands what he needs to do.’

Almost immediately after Capello’s comments, Dalglish promptly came rushing to defend the striker.

‘As we’ve said before Andy was not properly fit last season because of a knee injury but we have been pleased with his level of fitness this season because he has lost the injury,’ said Dalglish, perhaps missing the point.

‘I think [Andy] appreciates Capello’s advice because he has great respect for Fabio and Fabio has great respect for Andy.’

Perhaps at some point in the near future, Capello could then turn his sights to Dalglish and bluntly tell him to trim his overprotective nature.  Goals are not made – and games are not won – by constant pampering, after all.

No excuses please

Carroll’s apparent downward movement in the game threatens his career at a considerably young age.

There is an imperative need for him to realize that the Premier League is a fickle creature.  It elevates an individual for one season before nonchalantly watching that man drop from dizzying heights.

The facts state that as far as potential goes, the lad has enough seeping out of his pores.

Brazen statements were made about him and Luis Suarez being set to become ‘the most feared’ strike force in the Premier League.  So far, Suarez has been doing it alone, as Carroll sits on the bench.

With the right training and discipline Carroll could break away from threats of implosion and rise to become one of the greats.

Such a feat, however, requires accountability – both from him, and Dalglish. Perhaps a few call-outs from the Liverpool manager, instead of the constant excuses, would do the striker good.

Capello’s warnings, and a potentially growing pool of criticism towards Carroll, must be taken as fact.  There is no room for indulgence in European football.  Anyone who thinks otherwise is destined to a menacing future of crashing, burning, and disappearing into oblivion.

Carroll is too good for such a fate.  As soon as he (and those surrounding him) realizes this, perhaps Liverpool might begin seeing glimpses of the player they thought they acquired for £35 million.

 

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