Redman in wales » Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:44 am wrote:It's also not just about goals and assists. It's also about what he does for others.
Even yesterday's goal, Carrol didn't touch the ball, but he drew a defender with him, keeping him out of the way of Suarez, or the balls path. Had carroll not distracted the defender, he could have blocked suarez's shot or cleared it off the line.
Ok - that may not be the best example... but there are plenty of other occasions over the last few games where Carroll may not have scored or assisted, but he occupies defenders that the extra man in midfield may not do and he creates space for others.
We are more effective and more successful with him starting, then him not. To re-iterate Benny's stats:
LFC results in last 7 Carroll's starts: WWDWDWW
Last 7 without: DDLLLLLIt's not just co-incidence - it's what he does for the team.
Another intersting line of thought, which backs up this arguement about what he does for others.
In 2012, Luis Suarez has only scored or made an assist when Carroll has been on the field at the same time.
Luis Suarez last 4 goals and last 4 assists have all come when Carroll's on the pitch. Carroll may not score, but he creates the space for others.
Regardless of his scoring record, he certainly adds something when he plays.
And yes for the doubters, it is obviously not just Carroll alone causing the good results when he’s on the field / bad when he’s off. But also the system we employ.
As always it’s never just one thing that’s wrong, but it’s a multitude of things, but some of them can be linked
When we play Carroll, we often revert to a 4-4-2, without him, we seem to play 4-3-3. The better results tend to come when we’re playing 4-4-2.