I was very surprised to see Liverpool striker Andy Carroll start against Sunderland only three days after he played his first full 90 minutes for the club against Braga in the Europa League. It was great to see however the £58million partnership between Suarez and himself for the first time. It will certainly take some time to gel but there were already signs of hope that the pair could complement each other very well.

Despite being out for three months, and lacking match fitness, Carroll has already demonstrated his aerial abilities, and it seems that against any opposition defence he will win 90-95% of the headers that go his way. There may have been some criticism for his lack of ball control and ability to hold up the ball at times on Sunday, but there were also signs of his fleet footedness with the ball as well as to win a great deal of headers for his strike partner to latch onto. It is great to know as well that Carroll can only get better too. It was his first league start, and after playing 90 minutes against Braga, he looked flat on his feet in the second half as his lack of match fitness tolled. Still, in the 70 minutes he was given, he was constant menace for the Sunderland backline and had a header cleared off the line which could have been his first goal for Liverpool.

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An aerial threat from corners is something that the Reds have been missing for a long time, basically since the departure of Sami Hyypia. Despite Martin Skrtel’s height, he has never been that commanding in the opposition penalty box like the great Finn, and the Reds’ only real aerial threat has come when Sotirios Kyrgiakos has been picked in the team. With Carroll in the side, the picture changes dramatically. A clever tactical ploy from Liverpool against Sunderland was to hide Carroll behind Skrtel so the Black Cats’ defence could not tightly mark the 22 year old before he peeled off the Slovakian defender to get a freer run at goal. It nearly came off but for a goal line clearance too. It also means that other players in the box have a greater chance of scoring as opposition defenders may be too preoccupied with the aerial threat of Carroll and forget to mark other players. Dirk Kuyt nearly scored within the first 4 minutes from a corner on Sunday.

Of course, it is not all about set pieces, and the link up play between Carroll and Suarez in open play will be crucial to Liverpool’s future chances in the league. There were a couple of times I noticed Suarez getting frustrated with Carroll’s distribution of the ball, but it will take a bit of time for the pair to play on the same wavelength and get the best out of each other’s game. Despite Carroll not being fully fit, he still managed a few significant knockdowns, and held up the play sufficiently to brings others into the game, including Suarez. The Uruguayan was immense and enjoyed drifting into midfield or onto the flanks to make an impact on the game.

Interaction between Suarez and Carroll will certainly improve but their contrasting styles mean it shouldn’t take too long to click. While Carroll will sometimes come deep for the ball to lay on a pass, he will generally stick to his target man role in the middle of the park. In this role, he will generally attract markers, leaving gaps for Suarez, either on the flanks or deep when Carroll is up front; or when Carroll comes deep, the Uruguayan should find space in behind the defence.

In regards to link up play, Suarez should be able to feed off Carroll’s knockdowns all day while Carroll should be the recipient of a few ideally placed crosses when Suarez decides to drift into wider areas. All looks pretty positive for the future in regards to the two strikers, now we need to look at strengthening other areas of the pitch!

Read more of David’s articles at the excellent Live4Liverpool

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Watch out for Conor Coady in a Liverpool shirt very soon…

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