Tweet
King Kenny's hall of shame? As Liverpool write off £20m on Carroll, Sportsmail assesses £85m spree that saw him joined by Henderson, Downing and Adam
By Rik Sharma and Sunni Upal
PUBLISHED:14:40, 20 June 2013| UPDATED:15:00, 20 June 2013 41 shares
41
View
comments
Andy Carroll's £15.5million move to West Ham means Liverpool have written off almost £20m on the England hitman.
Then-manager Kenny Dalglish and then-director of football strategy Damien Comolli purchased him from Newcastle for £35m in January 2011, as part of their plan to sign young players with potentially high resale values.
They also adhered to a Moneyball-esque strategy of bringing in players with superb performance data and statistics, mostly sourced from British sides.
A closer look: How have Kenny Dalglish and Damien Comolli's (right) signings fared?
But the plan fell apart - Carroll was sidelined at Anfield, failing to fit in, pining for a move away and a fresh start.
Sportsmail analyses Dalglish and Comolli's signings and judges whether their strategy worked or not.
Andy Carroll (Bought January 2011)
Bought for £35m at 22 years old from Newcastle.
Sold for £15.5m at 24 years old to West Ham.
Net profit/loss: -£19.5m
Played 58 Goals 11
The lanky target man divides opinion. To some he is a whirlwind, horrific to play against. To others, a clogger. But there is no doubt that his time at Liverpool was an abject failure. Being signed on transfer deadline day obviously contributed to his vastly inflated fee, but splashing £35million on the striker and expecting him to fit into Liverpool's game, rather than adapt to his, was bizarre.
At Newcastle they played to his strengths, ignored aesthetics, and utilised Kevin Nolan as someone to devour the knock-downs and tee-ups. Suarez, who he was to play with, was a fine player but at the time far from lethal.
Verdict: Failure
Shunted out: Andy Carroll has been sold to West Ham after being loaned there last seasonLuis Suarez (Bought January 2011)
Bought for £22.7m at 24 years old from Ajax.
Valued at £45m at 26.
Net profit/loss: £22.3m
Played 96 Goals 51
The reverse of Carroll, Suarez has gone from strength to strength in a red shirt. The striker initially wowed with his technique but couldn't find the net frequently enough, but has trained hard and is now the side's best goal threat and most dangerous player. His 'culture-shock' problems even serve to show the advantages of buying players already established in Britain.
The money Liverpool lost on Carroll could be made back if they sell Suarez, with Real Madrid and Barcelona interested in procuring his services. But to sell would be to sacrifice the club's best asset and their only hope of reaching the Champions League next season.
Verdict: Success
Controversial: Luis Suarez's talent is undoubted but he has found it hard to fit into the English rhythm of lifeCharlie Adam (Bought summer 2011)
Bought for £7.5m at 25 years old from Blackpool.
Sold for £4m at 26 to Stoke.
Net profit/loss: -£3.5m
Played 37 Goals 2
Another case where Liverpool bought the key man from another side and then expected him to fit in like a jigsaw piece into their team. Adam ran the game at Blackpool but at Anfield he was a small fish in a big pond. He rarely impressed in a red shirt and was allowed to move to Stoke for a cut price. His statistics at Blackpool indicated his value - but only in a side that was otherwise lacking a heartbeat.
Verdict: Failure
Misfit: At Blackpool Charlie Adam ruled the roost, at Liverpool he was inadequate and rotatedJose Enrique (Bought summer 2011)
Bought for £6m at 25 years old from Newcastle.
Valued at £6m at 27 years old
Net profit/loss: £0
Played 78 Goals 2
He was bought as a solid left-back option and that's what he's proved to be. Dependable but not spectacular, Enrique has continued the form he mustered at Newcastle - unlike Carroll. Although he gets forward in support of attacks he rarely provides goals or assists. But Enrique has retained his value and has lived up to his billing.
Verdict: Success
Dependable but not dynamic: Jose Enrique has done a reasonable job as Liverpool's left backSebastian Coates (Bought summer 2011)
Bought for £7m at 20 years old from Nacional
Valued at £4.5m at 22 years old
Net profit/loss: -£2.5m
Played 24 Goals 2
The Uruguay defender has made virtually no impact at Anfield, save for one memorable bicycle kick he scored against Queens Park Rangers. He has barely played in two season and is behind youngsters in the defensive pecking order. He is available for loan and Liverpool would do well to get £5m for him now - which is what they are looking for.
Verdict: Failure
No impact: Sebastian Coates (centre) reacts after scoring an own goal for Liverpool against UdineseJordan Henderson (Bought summer 2011)
Bought for £20m at 20 years old from Sunderland
Valued at £12m at 23 years old
Net profit/loss: -£8m
Played 92 Goals 8
The most ridiculed of all of Dalglish's signings because of his fee. Hardly a household name despite being a regular part of Sunderland's midfield (Sebastian Larsson and Stephane Sessegnon took the limelight), that Liverpool stumped up £20m was a shock.
Henderson's performances in his debut season were poor at best, looking lost and aimless as the Reds struggled. Since then, though, he has picked up. It's still possible he could go on to be a success at Anfield, even if he never turns out to be worth the price tag on his neck. But judged on his performances up to now...
Verdict: Failure
Weak: Jordan Henderson could not cap a decent end to the season with a good showing at the U21 EurosStewart Downing (Bought summer 2011)
Bought for £20m at 26 years old from Aston Villa
Valued at £7m at 28 years old
Net profit/loss: -£13m
Played 91 Goals 7
The left-winger has by and large endured a torrid time at Liverpool, and was even dumped at left-back by Brendan Rodgers for a period last season. He was ridiculed for not having notched a goal or made an assist in his first season in the Premier League with the club, but finally found his feet - to an extent - last term.
But at 28 he will not improve other than to become a little more consistent and will forever be seen as wasted talent. At Villa he stood up to statistical scrutiny, but at Liverpool he faltered. Not the disaster he could have been after one year, but still, £20m still appears a ludicrous fee.
Verdict: Failure
Shhh: Stewart Downing celebrates a rare goal but mostly it's defences that have been keeping HIM quietTotal spend: £118.2m
Recouped/current value: £94m
Net transfer revenue: -£24.2m
Verdict
Losing just over £24m on transfers doesn't seem that bad a deal in the grand scheme of things.
But when you consider that the purpose of buying players like these at high values, rather than cheaper - and sometimes better players - is to garner a high re-sale value, you could argue that Liverpool have lost two years to the scheme already.
On the other hand... Sportsmail's Sunni Upal argues a case for King Kenny's dealings
Kenny Dalglish spent a lot of money on the likes of Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing.
He and the club had a clear plan in mind to bring in young English for long-term success. Admittedly, Liverpool paid over the top for these three players, but that has always been the way.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain went from Southampton to Arsenal for £15million, Manchester United spent over £16million on Phil Jones. If you want English players, you must pay a premium.
All three were weighed down by their transfer fees. Another thing that hasn't helped them is that with a new manager comes new ideas and new faces. Brendan Rodgers didn't see Henderson, Downing and Carroll in the same way that Kenny did.
Different plans: Brendan Rodgers understandably had less faith in some of the signings than Dalglish didThe club must take a large part of the blame for Liverpool's £20m loss on Carroll. Had Dalglish still been there, who knows what Carroll might have achieved. Along with Downing and Henderson, Carroll was a Dalglish signing and once Kenny left there was always the possibility they wouldn't feature as prominently in the new manager's plans.
The Carroll transfer has to be looked at in context, although it rarely is. On that wild transfer deadline day in January 2011, Liverpool were resigned to losing Fernando Torres to Chelsea. Dalglish had to replace him.
On his way: Losing Fernando Torres meant Liverpool had to splash out on deadline day£35million is a lot for Carroll, but Liverpool received £50million for Torres. At the time, when Liverpool sold Torres and Babel for a combined £57million and signed Luis Suarez and Carroll for the same amount, they were being praised for good business.
It was transfer deadline day, hence the inflated fees. Torres wasn't a £50million striker, more like £25-30million. Carroll wasn't a £35million striker, more like £10-12million.
Towards the second half of last season there were signs that Henderson and Downing were starting to find their feet having worked his way back into the first team. Next season is crucial for the pair of them.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz2Wm9rXEZO
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
Comment