The Carroll Conundrum

It's fair to say that Liverpool's capture of Andy Carroll from Newcastle on the last day of the January transfer window has been shrouded by football fans' polar opposite views about the promise of the young England international.

Carroll doing what he does best: powering a header.

Carroll, before the extortionate £35m transfer to Liverpool FC, was proving a prominent striker in the Premier League after making the step up from Championship, winning the title with his Newcastle side along the way. No one doubts his abilities as a battering-ram striker, but there are people who would doubt the price-tag against his potential.

Carroll has made two professional senior appearances for England, scoring one goal in the process. Hardly a renown and proven set of statistics but the striker, who is uneasy on the eye and very unfashionable in today's Catalan induced market of small, technical players. However, with the arrival of Romelu Lukaku to Stamford Bridge, in a £20m capture, it proves that strikers who can upset defenders with sheer presence are still valuable commodities in today's game.

Football statisticians would tell you that Peter Crouch is a much more proven striker at international level. He has scored 22 goals in a a miserly 42 appearances, which is, obviously, 1 goal in 2 games. Andy Carroll did, in fact, score his international goal against a very apt, up-and-coming Ghana side at Wembley, where Crouch's goals have been against the minnows of the world football game. Crouch has only scored 4 of his 22 goals against competitive, top 20 opponents. (Mexico, France, Uraguay and Croatia.)

Comparatively, Peter Crouch is a heady 6ft 7' tall, while Carroll is a shorter 6ft 3'. Crouch, however, poses a slender stature, weighing 11 stones and a few pounds, while Carroll is a more imposing 12 stones, since wearing a Liverpool shirt. Aerial ability is a culmination of height, jumping height, strength, power and anticipation. In the combination of these attributes, Crouch's superior 4 inches do not beat Carroll's rounded superiority. When comparing Carroll against Crouch's effectiveness in a football team, it would be reasonable to say that Carroll is a much more effective player.

In my opinion, Andy Carroll, aged only 21, is a great purchase for Liverpool FC. He has a five-year contract and, although, for a largely unproven striker at Premier League level, with the transfer fee being very high, Liverpool's potential ten years of investment in a promising striker for the fee works out at only £3.5m a year. If Carroll scores only ten Premier League goals a year, any side would pay that fee for a season's service. That's not to mention how many goals he is likely to score in a good Liverpool side, plus the added build-up play he contributes which is invaluable in a side's tactics. Added to that, if Kenny Dalglish, a Scotsman, can mold Carroll into a formidable striker it would be greatly to England's benefit. Since Alan Shearer, England has not had a striker who can score goals as well as contributing to the team's goals.