Andy Caroll and verdict QPR game

http://www.liverpool.no/newspg.aspx?id=37079

According to this article on Liverpool FC we are in negotiations to sell Carroll.

With how many good talents coming through currently I think we are in a position to hold out for the money that we want for Andy Carroll.

He provides something different and would score goals in a Liverpool team as well. There is no doubt about that as he does have qualities in terms of holding the ball up that noone else has.

Having said that he has stated that he wants first team football. Therefore if we can get more than 16M for him I would sell him and try to bring in someone like Dzeko who has got many of the same qualities but has more pace, is still a great header of the ball, can do better defensively and is more two footed than Carroll. I would argue that Dzeko is world class and with playing time he would make the team a lot better.

Sell Downing and Caroll and we should have the money to bring Dzeko in if he is available.

Tevez is still my favourite though and more likley to win games on his own.

Now on to the QPR game.

Today I was almost more impressed than I have been for a while. Skertel looked back to his best which bodes well for next year. I really hope Carra can teach Agger and Skertel some of his management of the guys around him. Agger captains the Denmark team and should be able to learn organisation. If he doesnt it is kinda weird and I hope he is in contention to move up to vice captain behind Gerrard along with Reina who is anohter one who could help organise. Obviously he is too far from the action though and who knows if it can be achieved.

A man to bring in to consult on that front is not only Carra but Alan Hansen who is through and through Liverpool. I am sure he would be happy to do it if asked.

We started brightly and Coutinho should have had 2 goals today and maybe even a hatrick. He had the header mistakenly dissallowed ealry in the game. It was a bit of a shame really because the confidence would have grown even more but it is fantastic to see.

I thought the final little detail lacked today and credit to Armand Traore, Samba and Clint hill who all had decent games. Also the young kid who was up against Jordan Ibe did well despite being undone from time to time. Efan Ekoku today pointed out that Jordan Ibe had a very decent game and more physicality than Raheem sterling which is admirable. I agree with him but I think he has a bit to go on his dribbling and directness where Raheem sterling had a few people impressed. Raheem lost some of that when the season moved on but to be fair the future looks very bright and I become more and more sure we do not need Downing to stick around if we can cash in on him. These youngsters are only going to get better.

Downing, Carroll and Jon Flanagan could move out. That would leave Martin Kelly, WIsdom who both can feature on wing backs and at centre back and enrique and robinson on left back which should put us in good stead. We may need to sign a central defender but the I am pretty sure Martin Kelly could do a job at centre back if given a shout. He has impressed when given a chance at Right back, is quick, strong in the air and has a lot of qualities. There is just the injury proneness to deal with which could be a concern and one may want some backup but I would go for signing talent again. Koscielny like talent... Thought he had a great game for Arsenal today and he made me some points in my fantasy team.

Sturridge had a more quiet game today. Lucas was his steady self and Henderson continued his good form.
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I also thought Glen Johnson had a stellar game today and came close to scoring on at least one occasion. We kept producing chances with a combination of nice small passing alla tiki taka as well as from time to time switching play with a long ball which is brilliant. It means we have a different dimension to our game. Skretel hit a few nice balls cross field but also hit it short from time to time. Coutinho had another great game and it shows that he loves it through the middle. Having said that when he is on the left he seems to find angles for Sturridge better. I do not know if that just is because sturridge had a below par game today (he was still ok) but... yeah.

I think it is all very promising. One thing that I am missing from the kenny days is the guys that rush into the box when we make it to the by line or the sidelines to put in a cross. I think many along the front 3 and beyond to maybe henderson can show more desire to get into the box. If we had done that I believe there would have been more goals in todays game. Yes you leave yourself more exposed but to puncture (a Norwegian expression for putting away) the game we could have done that.

With the amount of chances we created today though it was just a matter of luck/poor finishing (enrique with his weaker right foot for example) and maybe a slight lack of quickly in the final ball/or desire to get on the end of it, that ensured we didnt score more today. Bodes well in any case when we do not have our two best players on the pitch (in Gerrard and Suarez).

Carragher was stellar today and came close to scoring twice. When he hit the cross post it was almost an anti climax and I think many would have wanted that to go in for Jamie Carragher Ledgend 23.

The songs, the atmosphere at Anfield today and the pretty much perfect service he has given to the club is admired by many. I hope he stays around the place and continues to be a positive influence. That he has joined Skysports as a pundit is nothing less of brilliant and I wish we got that here in Canada so I could watch him comment with success much the way Gary Neville has done. I am sure Carra will be great at it and put in as much effort as he did on the pitch. I am sure he also looks forward to spending more time with him family going forward and following up his son who I learned in the "Being Liverpool" documentary plays for the LFC academy. Suspect with his work ethic he may be a future star at some point.

In the end a great day for LFC. We won despite being promising in the final third without having the ability to finish. Next year we would have goal line technology however and we would have won that game 2-0 with both goals from Phillipe Coutinho.

It is going to be a great year I am sure and with a signing of a world class striker and a decent central defender (Samba is my favourite) I think we would challenge for the title.

YNWA,

Stian