its bollocks because nobody ever takes into the discussion what andy gives us defending set pieces, or the knock downs nobody reacts to, but his main problem was the money we paid and the fact he was injured people expected far too much too soon and have never forgiven him for that, their mistake really.
As for the second bit show me when i said the best striker in the world read dont exaggerate, it should be obvious to even you that he has the capabilities to become a monster of a player and eventually he will constantly show that, be it here or elsewhere.
In the end this reminds me so much of the threads that would have had Dirk, Lucas. Skrtel and Agger (who came in for massive abuse a couple of seasons back including suggesting he had a mental illness) gone from here.
How times change for those one time forum targets.
I don't want to get too carried away with this thread, I'm probably coming across like I only registered to bash Carroll.
For me, the least of an attackers duties is defending, it's nice that Andy can help us out, but I don't see it as a hugely important thing. And it's good that he wins a lot in the air, but without him on the pitch we wouldn't be resorting to the long balls as much in the first place.
I agree the reason people are so critical is his price tag, but it's also the reason some defend him no matter how he plays. If he cost £3.5m he wouldn't have gotten half the abuse or half the support in my opinion.
I'm not so sure he can become a monster of a player, he's got no pace, acceleration, agility, a poor touch, questionable work rate, his positioning isn't great. He is the best header of a ball in the league, and he has a sweet left foot, but apart from that I can't see many positives.
If he does end up becoming a great player then I'll happily accept I was wrong, but for every Lucas, Kuyt and Skrtel, who had their critics and proved them wrong, there's a Keane, Dossena, Babel, Ngog type player who never did.
On the whole it has, but can you honestly tell me you weren't encouraged by his performances towards the end of the season? He looked a different player. Fitter, leaner, and more confident.
Did you watch the league game against Chelsea?
I agree, he looked a lot better for a few games towards the end of the season, pretty much after his embarrassment against Newcastle, but I think his performances are getting blown out of proportion a bit, it seems like all he had to do was win a few headers and complete a few passes and he'd had a great game.
Problem is there's no middle ground with Carroll so arguments on both sides get exaggerated, he's either a future world beater or shit.
