Suarez & Carroll beginning to gel as a strike force
There’s an optimism that we’re now seeing the true beginnings of a front-line striking partnership between Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll. The latest evidence came after Sunday’s 6-1 FA Cup win over Brighton in particular when a deep cross from Downing (he actually had a good game) to the far post was met by Carroll who headed it back across the goal-mouth for Suarez to score from the simplest of headers.
It’s gratifying to see an understanding between the two players paying-off. There’s no question that with Suarez now playing on a regular basis and in fine form and with Carroll becoming increasingly effective with each game, scoring a cracker to make it 3-1, there’s every reason to believe there’s a new ”Keegan/Toshack” attacking duo in the making. And it’s about time. Carroll’s lack of form since signing from Newcastle a year ago has had us waiting for this to finally happen.
During the January transfer window I was one of those who felt strongly Liverpool needed to buy a new, quality, striker. I still do. It’s the obvious position Liverpool were lacking. Even so, I continued to have hopes Carroll would eventually come good but in the meantime the front-line needed strengthening. Liverpool needed a class player who could put away those endless chances the current forwards were struggling to dispatch, especially at home. However, once the deadline passed without any new signings, I’m not sure what Comolli was doing, Dalglish had no option but to work on improving the performance of the current squad and none more so than Carroll. After endlessly defending his players below-par performances perhaps the turning point was Dalglish’s verbal assault on the team after the embarrassing 3-1 defeat at Bolton where Liverpool were, to say the least, poor.
“If they needed a lesson to be taught to them then today was it. If they thought they could just turn up and get a result and not match the opposition for effort and commitment then they got a lesson today. If they have learned it, then fine”.
“They” of course included Andy Carroll, among others, but since then we’ve seen a player with a different attitude and work rate.
Even Steven Gerrard in a pre-match interview before the return leg of the Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester City when asked about the current form of the new signings said they knew they weren’t playing at their best. Code for “they aren’t good enough right now”. It was a fair and honest assessment but one that seems to have resonated, and stimulated action, among the newer players. Some of the media criticized Gerrard for saying this but when you star player says you’re not doing well you better listen and it seems they did.
So it’s on to Wembley next Sunday for the Carling Cup final and I’m sure Kenny will have Suarez and Carroll in the starting line-up. Let’s hope it’s a platform for the new striking partnership use to showcase what they are truly capable of.
