Liverpool have made a number of signings over the years who didn’t live up to expectations.
Lazar Markovic, Naby Keita and Alberto Aquilani are but a few examples of players who didn’t hit the heights expected of them at Anfield.
However, perhaps the most frustrating flop at Liverpool over the years was Andy Carroll.
Signed on deadline day in January 2011, Carroll was signed as a last-minute replacement for Fernando Torres.
After an excellent 18 months at Newcastle, Carroll seemed destined to succeed at Liverpool, but, sadly, it really didn’t go to plan for the big man.
Speaking on the BBC Match of the Day Top 10 Podcast, Micah Richards has been discussing Carroll and his time at Liverpool, and he says he felt really sorry for the England international when he was on Merseyside.
Micah Richards felt sorry for Andy Carroll
Richards spoke about the striker and his time at Liverpool.
“I felt for him. That big move to Liverpool, that killed him a little bit that. What was it £50m? (£35m) He got called a donkey, but he was quite good technically. He was better than people give him credit for,” Richards said.
Andy Carroll had so much potential
This was the case of the wrong move at the wrong time for Andy Carroll.
Not only did the striker not suit Liverpool’s style of play at the time, he arrived on the exact same day as Luis Suarez, so he was a club-record signing who was relegated to being second-choice almost immediately.
If Carroll had picked his next move more wisely, he could’ve been a star. After all, he had the raw attributes to dominate any defence.
In an ideal world, Carroll would’ve stayed at Newcastle for a bit longer before eventually heading to a club like Chelsea where he would’ve been a great replacement for Didier Drogba, but, unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way for the attacker.