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Shearer: Carroll will justify £35M price tag

Comment: 0 October 11th, 2011 by: admin

Football icon Alan Shearer recently assured the press that Andy Carroll will in time come into full form and show detractors and supporters why he was worth the £35 million fee.

Shearer furthered to insist that with King Kenny’s guidance, the striker will re-emerge as the fearful forward with the same skill level he displayed while playing with the Magpies.

The striker managed to command respect while with Newcastle United, with supporters dubbing him the next Alan Shearer.

‘He is the same Andy Carroll who moved to Anfield from £35 million,’ Shearer said.  ‘He has to say to himself, “I am the same person, I’m still the same player.  The ability is in there.”’

‘Once he settles down, starts to play well and score, you will see the fearsome centre forward that we saw at Newcastle,’ assured Shearer, who had worked with the striker during his short stint as Magpies manager.

‘You’ll see the reason why Kenny paid £35 million for him.’

Following a well-documented, record-breaking transfer to Anfield, Carroll has been under scrutiny regarding his lack of goals since last season.

Carroll has also been unfavourably compared to Luis Suarez who, after coming into Liverpool with the 22-year old, is now deemed one of the Reds’ most effective players.

Despite these setbacks, Shearer insisted that the 6ft 4in striker also has the ability not only to become a great asset for Liverpool, but also for the English national team.

He furthered, saying that his vision is for Carroll to become a great addition for England, and could possibly form a lethal partnership with Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney.

‘I do see him as an England centre-forward. One hundred per cent,’ said Shearer.  ‘Wayne Rooney will always be number one.  Andy can be his partner and he will be.  I definitely look at Andy with England as a long-term thing.’

Shearer added that Carroll’s situation of living a ‘goldfish bowl’ life in high-profile clubs, combined with his inexperience, results in intense, distracting pressure.

‘Andy’s not really been in an environment where he has to mix with people and face the Press guys, whether he has a good game or a bad game,’ said Shearer.  ‘He’s still inexperienced and to have a £35 million price tag is a lot to deal with.’

Of Liverpool’s seven games in this season, Carroll has only found the back of the net once.  He has tallied only 3 goals in 14 appearances since his move to Anfield last season.

His previous season with Newcastle saw him net 11 goals in 19 appearances.

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