The undesirable no. 9

Expectations have been flying high in the red half of Merseyside since the club was purchased in late October 2010 by American sports venture, F.S.G. The atmosphere around the club was positive, with expectations growing beyond limits at the club which had seen a lot of success two decades ago, a second coming was expected to be in the store. 75 million Euros were spent on the English small club trio of Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and the most expensive of the three, Andy Carroll.

With Fernando Torres moving away from the Club for a fee of 50 million pounds, Liverpool’s iconic no. 9 had only one recipient, that being the 35 million pound, deadline day transfer, Andy Carroll. With Luis Suarez having joint only 24 hours earlier, and 58 million ponds splashed in a matter of 36 hours, Fernando Torres seemed to be a long forgotten figure.

Lot had been spoken about how well Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez would fit in as a partnership. With comparisons with Alan Shearer, and those multiple analogies, with both being super hits at Newcastle United, both being big money transfers under Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool fans had started to draw their own cozy pleasing conclusions. Most critics, admirers and fans even gathered some courage to compare this pairing to the evergreen Rush- Dalglish pairing of the 80s. All this, even before the duo was tested on field. Luis Suarez with his incredible hunger for the game, and fantastic work ethics, did not take too long to become a Kop favorite. Andy Carroll ended his first half season for the club with a notable brace against Manchester City at Anfield.

Much promise, no show.

With 65 million pounds spent on 5 players, in addition to the 58.5 million spent on Carroll and Suarez, expectations were paramount. Manager Kenny Dalglish, in his pre season press conference, had made it absolutely clear that a top-4 finish was primary requirement for a club of Liverpool’s stature. Kenny Dalglish also mentioned that a top-4 finish would bring them somewhere close to where the club ‘belongs’. Things went horribly wrong for Liverpool, partly due to bad performances, poor tactics, if not due to pure bad fortune. In a season where Liverpool hit the woodwork 33 times in 38 games, they only managed a 7^th place finish, three places below where they thought they ‘belonged’. With the season piling out as it did, Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson were the most blamed of the lot. With the big money man failing to score as frequently as expected from a player, rated 35 million pounds, and a poor showing on the league table, Kenny Dalglish was sacked with immediate effect.

New man in town Brendan Rodgers has been exceptional in handling the press, which perhaps, is the easiest of the many tasks a manager has to perform at a big club. A lot has been spoken of his total football philosophy, and the results he churned out of a rather mediocre Swansea team. As has been proven from Roy Hodgson’s time at Anfield, there is a huge difference between managing a big club like Liverpool and a mediocre club like Fulham or Swansea. The expectations get either the worst or the best out of you. And Liverpool fans would expect the latter. Brendan Rodgers is believed to have made his mind up to cash out Andy Carroll. By no means was Andy Carroll worth 35 million pounds when he was purchased, and there can be no doubting the fact that he will never be worth that money. In case Liverpool decide to sell Andy Carroll, a 15 million pounds loss will always be on the cards, if not more. In such circumstances, importance has to be given to how to fit such a highly priced commodity into your playing system, rather than rejecting him.

Also, going by recent history, there can be no one who can guaranty that Rodgers would remain at the club for over 2 years. Is 15 million pounds loss acceptable, if Liverpool don’t see themselves fitting into Rodgers’ plans, and a change of manager is necessary?

Even with the signing of Fabio Borini , Liverpool have only 3 strikers in their 30-man squad. In such cases, it does not seem to be clever of Liverpool to sell him off. Also, it would mean another season of experimentation with the forward position, which turned out to be pivotal in how the previous season turned out.