Luis Carroll

 Football history is littered with great players, people with real talent bordering on genius and these players are rightly regarded as legends of our sport. The right player can win games, even competitions, on their own, think of Diego Maradona in the 1986 World Cup dragging an average Argentinian team to the pinnacle with his breathtaking performances. Truly great players make victories happen. However, players like Maradona and Pele are so rare that you simply cannot rely on finding someone who can win things for you on their own, you need a team, and within that team you need players who compliment each others styles, players who gel, you need partnerships.

 Liverpool have had so many famous double acts down the years we have been spoilt, Keegan – Toshack, Rush – Dalglish, Hansen – Lawrenson to name but a few. In recent years we have had Gerrard – Hamman, Hyypia – Henchoz, Torres – Gerrard, Alonso - Mascherano and many more. Now is the time for the emergence of Carroll and Suarez. The game against Brighton last weekend saw the first ever Liverpool starting eleven containing these two and Steven Gerrard and we scored six goals, albeit against a rather helpful defence, but still six goals is a good afternoon’s work. There was plenty to admire in our performance but maybe the most significant moment came right at the end of the game when Carroll headed the ball across goal for Suarez to easily nod the ball into the net from close range. As goals go it was hardly a classic but the importance of our two expensive forwards combining to score cannot be overstated. The game was won well before full time and Kenny found himself in the enviable position of being able to choose who he wanted to take off and rest ready for this weekend’s final, and he chose to keep Suarez and Carroll on the pitch together. Could be one of his best decisions of the season.

 The majority of successful striking partnerships have a big man / little man dynamic and Carroll / Suarez certainly fits this. They are certainly not too similar to play together and both bring different strengths to the table. Think back to when Michael Owen was emerging and how rarely he and Robbie Fowler were paired together up front, they were seen as both bringing the same type of style to the team so weren’t often considered as a duo despite them both being excellent individual performers. Carroll fits the target man role, giving the defence a long ball option when we are under pressure, it’s amazing how quickly defence can turn into attack when a long kick upfield is won by the striker. He also makes the job easier for the wingers and full backs when it comes to getting the ball into the box and his attacking presence at corners has led to a couple of goals recently without him actually going near the ball. Suarez is the more skilful of the pair, able to keep the ball for the team until support arrives or on some occasions take on the opposition by himself. He can come deep to get the ball and is mobile enough to cause the full backs problems aswell as the centre backs, in short he’s a nightmare for the opposing manager to plan for.

 What the Suarez / Carroll partnership lacks is an obvious goalscorer, with the likes of Dalglish and Rush it was clear which of the pair was going to take on the responsibility for scoring the majority of the goals but neither Suarez or Carroll realistically looks like getting 20 league goals in a season so it is important they both chip in with 15 or so. At the end of the day a successful forward partnership will reach a certain number of goals between them, how they are shared is not so important but if that figure isn’t reached the team suffers. The way the two of them play the game suggests that Carroll more than Suarez will find himself directly in front of goal so he needs to become more clinical with his finishing but he certainly has the right manager to help him achieve this. Two promising young forwards looking to improve their game and form a deadly partnership couldn’t wish to be working under a better manager for them than Kenny Dalglish. And there can be no better place and time for the partnership to announce it’s arrival than at Wembley on Sunday in the League Cup Final.