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Posts Tagged ‘feeds’

• Liverpool’s £35m striker has not been allowed to flourish
• Carroll plays key role in FA Cup win over Manchester United

Andy Carroll for Carlos Tevez? It would make sense for Liverpool to go for a striker that better suits their style, albeit with a probable desire to want to leave after two years, and for Manchester City to reject what even now amounts to an unfavourable exchange. As was made plain on Saturday, however, a £35m problem is not solely of Carroll’s making.

There were just seconds remaining in the first half at Anfield when José Reina collected the ball and looked to release a quick attack against Manchester United. Unfortunately nine red shirts were gathered in proximity. Up on the halfway line stood Carroll, trying on his lonesome to escape United’s central defenders and an unforgiving spotlight. He ultimately made the right step on both counts.

Judgment comes quickly for the most expensive British footballer in history and a ridiculous price tag is the barometer by which the 22-year-old’s every touch will be judged, fairly or not. Carroll never set the fee, nor can he avoid it, and there have been plenty of times when Kenny Dalglish’s decision-making has been called into question since he moved for the Newcastle United centre-forward while Fernando Torres was heading for the exit last January. A week before Liverpool’s victory over United in the FA

• Both Merseyside teams drawn at home
• Crawley Town and Stevenage to host Premier League opponents

Having seen off Manchester City in the Carling Cup semi-final, Liverpool will need to beat Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield to keep their tilt for two Wembley final appearances this season on course, having been paired with the Championship side in this afternoon’s FA Cup fifth round draw. Their Merseyside rivals Everton are also at home and will play Blackpool or Sheffield Wednesday, while Chelsea host last year’s Carling Cup winners, Birmingham.

There is only one potential all-Premier League clash, with the winners of the replay between Sunderland and Middlesbrough, who drew earlier today, drawn to play against Arsenal or Aston Villa. Norwich will host Leicester City, while Bolton go to either Millwall or Southampton.

League Two side Crawley Town will host Stoke City in the fifth round. The lowest-ranked side left in the competition beat Hull City yesterday and will be hoping to pull off an even bigger shock against Tony Pulis’s men.

League One Stevenage host Tottenham in a set of fixtures to be played on the weekend of 18-19 February.

The FA Cup fifth-round draw in full: Liverpool v Brighton, Everton v Blackpool or Sheffield Wednesday, Chelsea v Birmingham City, Crawley Town v Stoke City, Stevenage v Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City v Leicester City, Sunderland or Middlesbrough v Arsenal or Aston Villa, Millwall or Southampton v Bolton Wanderers.

FA Cup 2011-12LiverpoolEvertonStoke CityBirmingham CityStevenageTottenham HotspurNorwich CityLeicester CityCrawley TownMiddlesbroughSunderlandBlackpoolArsenalMillwallBolton WanderersSouthamptonAston VillaSheffield WednesdayChelseaBrighton & Hove AlbionFA Cup
guardian.co.uk

• Liverpool offered City a straight swap of the strikers
• Tevez likely to return to Manchester City next week

Liverpool have made a remarkable bid to swap Andy Carroll with Carlos Tevez and move on their club-record £35m signing not even a year after signing him from Newcastle United.

The Anfield club contacted City on Thursday to ask how much they want for Tevez and whether they would be willing to contemplate a straight exchange with Carroll. Brian Marwood, the City football administrator, rebuffed the idea immediately, even though Carroll is a player Roberto Mancini has admitted admiring when he was at Newcastle.

The move demonstrates how Liverpool are now openly looking at offloading Carroll despite the insistence behind the scenes at Anfield that he can still play a prominent part and Kenny Dalglish’s praise for the player after the 2-1 FA Cup defeat of Manchester United.

Carroll has scored only six goals in 35 appearances since becoming the eighth most expensive footballer in history and has not even been able to establish himself as a regular starter this season.

His problems adapting on Merseyside have also left Liverpool willing to take a £10m hit on the player, with Tevez valued at £25m, though that revelation is hardly surprising considering his difficulties at Anfield, added to the sense that he has not always been fully focused.

Fabio Capello, the England manager, has already expressed misgivings about the lifestyle of a player who has managed only two league goals this season in 20 appearances.

Those remarks went down badly at Anfield, with Dalglish defending Carroll, but the questions will probably not go away until he becomes a regular scorer. Carroll’s longest run of starts this season is three games and Marwood’s decision was made on the basis that he could no longer improve their team even though Mancini has a shortage of front players at a time when Tevez’s strike is in its 11th week and Mario Balotelli is now serving a four-match suspension.

Tevez is planning to return to Manchester next week now it has become apparent that Milan are not able to meet City’s asking price and, unless anything changes before Tuesday’s transfer deadline, his adviser, Kia Joorabchian, says the Argentinian wants to re-establish himself in the team.

Whether that is possible remains to be seen, with Mancini not prepared to entertain the idea unless there is an apology from Tevez for walking out on the club and the string of other offences that have already led to him being found guilty of gross misconduct and losing almost £10m in wages, fines and lost bonuses since the start of the season.

Tevez is still a formidable striker and finished as the league’s joint-top scorer last season, but he will be returning to England with a severely damaged reputation and Liverpool’s attempt to take him along the M62 will surprise many people given his propensity for causing dressing-room problems and an apparent dislike of living in England.

There is also the fact that, approaching his 28th birthday, he would not have fitted into Liverpool’s usual policy of buying players at a young age who will keep a resale value over the course of their contract. Liverpool, however, were willing to make an exception and City would have been glad to arrange a deal after unsuccessful talks not just with Milan but also Juventus, Internazionale and Paris St-Germain. They remain open to offers for the Argentinian but will not change their mind about Carroll.

LiverpoolManchester CityAndy CarrollCarlos TevezPremier League 2011-12Premier LeagueDaniel Taylor
guardian.co.uk