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• Striker says he is happy at the club and on Merseyside
• Merseyside police detain man for alleged racist gesture

Andy Carroll has said he has no desire to leave Liverpool after the club tried to exchange him for Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez only a year after his £35m arrival from Newcastle United.

Carroll, who has scored only six times for Kenny Dalglish’s team since becoming Britain’s most expensive footballer 12 months ago, was also linked with a return to Newcastle United earlier in the transfer window. Having produced a battling display in Saturday’s FA

Kenny Dalglish’s expensive summer signings show their worth on an emotional night at Anfield

The senior citizens, the 31-year-old Steve Gerrard and the 32-year-old Craig Bellamy, set the tone of tigerish aggression and scored the goals that saw off Manchester City in this match, taking Liverpool to a Wembley final for the first time since 1996, but Kenny Dalglish could take encouragement from the performance of the newcomers to his squad, who had been singled out for criticism in the wake of a limp defeat at Bolton Wanderers last weekend.

The greater narrative of English football’s leading clubs is beginning to overwhelm its cup competitions. Wednesday night’s match at Anfield was the second leg of a Carling Cup semi-final but its significance was vested almost entirely in the individual performance of two teams who are locked in struggles to sustain or restore their credibility over the whole length of the season, with more substantial ambitions than getting their hands on what must be seen, when all is said and done, as a consolatory bauble.

For Liverpool a night of vintage Anfield passion represented a chance to redeem themselves from Saturday’s humiliation, after which they received a rare public tongue-lashing from their manager. The instinct of Kenny Dalglish to protect his players from external criticism was overridden by the knowledge that they had fallen below the club’s traditional standards of effort and commitment and he was prepared to let the world see his dissatisfaction.

In the privacy of Melwood on Sunday morning he was even fiercer. “He told us as individuals and as a group that it wasn’t acceptable,” Gerrard reported. “He went through all of us. The manager has been critical to our faces.”

The Liverpool captain may have been acting on instructions when he chose to turn the spotlight on the club’s four new signings. “There is no good time to perform like that when you play for this club,” he said. “You have to win every game. The people new to the club will appreciate and understand that a bit more now after a performance like that.”

He was referring to Andy Carroll, bought from Newcastle United a year ago, and to the three summer acquisitions: Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam. A total of £70m invested, with 101 appearances between them this season and only eight goals to show for it. While Carroll was left to contemplate the error of his ways on the bench here on Wednesday night, emerging only for the four minutes of added time, the other three were given an immediate and extended opportunity to redeem themselves.

The 21-year-old Henderson had probably been the least culpable of the lot for the team’s recent failings, unfailingly bright and willing even when heads were dropping around him, although he was the one who stood to suffer most from the long-term absence of the underappreciated Lucas Leiva, from whose experience he could have learnt much. Here he was pushed forward into the middle of the attacking midfield line, just behind Bellamy, while Downing, whose erratic crossing has been a severe disappointment, was stationed on the left, with the intention of exploiting his stronger foot to get the ball into the box.

Adam, who started the season impressively but faded with the return of Gerrard, lined up alongside the captain at the base of midfield and began well, although it was he who should have been closing down Nigel de

• Warrior to replace Adidas as Liverpool’s official kit supplier
• Deal reported to be worth £25m annually to the club

Liverpool have confirmed they have signed a six-year deal with the American firm Warrior Sports to become the club’s official kit supplier.

Owned by New Balance, Warrior will replace Adidas, producing Liverpool’s home, away and third kits and the team’s training wear in a deal that begins on 1 June 2012. The deal is understood to be worth £25m a year to Liverpool.

Warrior have traditionally been associated with ice hockey and lacrosse in the US, but their general manager Richard Wright said: “We are here to shake up the world of football”.

Ian Ayre, the club’s managing director, said: “This is another landmark deal for Liverpool Football Club and once again shows the value of the club’s brand globally. Warrior Sports will bring its own unique brand and ideas to the partnership, ensuring they can assist us at the club both on and off the field of play.”

Liverpool
guardian.co.uk