Andy Carroll: 10 Reasons Liverpool Must Resist Selling Their £35 Million Man

Liverpool cannot sell Andy Carroll in the summer.

When the club purchased both him and Luis Suarez in January 2011, they saw it as the perfect combination.

Liverpool had their new John Toshack and Kevin Keegan.

His time at Liverpool shouldn't be deemed a failure, but it hasn't exactly gone according to plan.

With his ponytail and lack of goals, Carroll has probably gotten some unsavory comparisons to Andriy Voronin, a name which should send a shiver down any Liverpool supporter's spine.

Regardless of his performance at Anfield up to this time, Liverpool should avoid selling their striker this summer.

Carroll will never be worth the £35 million Liverpool paid, but if the club were to sell him this summer, they'd be lucky to get £15 million or even £10 million back.

It would make a lot more sense to hold onto him until his transfer value was a little higher. Come the summer, Carroll's value probably won't be the lowest it's ever been, but it will be close.

He's only 23, so his transfer value is likely to rise at some point.

With the FIFA Financial Fair Play rules, it would be very wise to get every penny out of the striker should they want to sell him.

Fenway Sports Group isn't always going to be able to fund the kind of spending sprees the club had in the 2011 transfer windows.

For those who think that Carroll will never be worth anything to another club, who would have believed that Liverpool would be able to sell Fernando Torres for £50 million?

Liverpool bought Stewart Downing this past summer to provide for Carroll.

In short, he hasn't done that. He's arguably been a bigger flop than Carroll.

Manager Kenny Dalglish has been culpable in this.

It seems like most matches he wouldn't start Carroll and Downing together—just one or the other. Then he would substitute Carroll for Downing, or vice versa.

Carroll was at his best when he had Joey Barton delivering in some great aerial balls. That hasn't happened at Liverpool, and Downing has to take the brunt of the blame.

Even when he and Carroll are on the pitch together, his service has been woeful at times.

You can't blame Carroll if his teammates aren't able to set him up in places where he can be effective.

Carroll's play has been improving.

If you disagree, consider his form from last year and in the early months of the season and look at him now.

Carroll did not do himself any favors, though. He didn't appear very happy or fully committed during the time he was given on the pitch.

That seems to have changed lately.

He hasn't lit up the scoresheet, but little by little he appears to be playing more confidently and with more fire.

With confidence will come goals and with an increased passion on the pitch will come more backing from Liverpool supporters.

As stated earlier, Carroll is only 23 years old, so he hasn't even reached his prime yet. It wouldn't make sense to write him off before he's hit his peak footballing years.

Liverpool supporters have yet to see the finished product when it comes to Andy Carroll.

Luis Suarez soiled them because of the way he just took England by storm.

Although Carroll only had to move from Newcastle, it can be difficult to leave your hometown club and come to one as big as Liverpool.

Not to mention that Carroll was hurt when he made the move.

So not only did he arrive in the second-largest British transfer ever, but he also didn't have the opportunity to immediately prove his worth.

When Peter Crouch arrived from Southampton, his story was much the same as Carroll.

Both guys are bigger strikers who excel in the aerial game.

Crouch really struggled in the first couple months upon his move to Anfield. Granted his play in other facets of the game might have been better than what Carroll has done so far, but there's no doubt their stories are fairly parallel.

Crouch went on to be pretty successful with Liverpool and the club only sold him because there wasn't enough room for him and Fernando Torres.

Some might argue that they shouldn't even have let him go. The Reds could have used Crouch over the past couple of years and have even tried to buy him back in the past.

The club can't let the same thing happen with Carroll.

Many English pundits have speculated as to whether Lionel Messi could do it on a wet night in Stoke.

That specific question is completely invalid, but there is a hint of an actual point in there.

The Premier League is one of the most physical leagues in the world.

Carroll is the perfect kind of striker for the league. He's like a battering ram.

Against clubs like Stoke that play a direct style, a striker like Carroll can be more effective than someone like Luis Suarez or Craig Bellamy.

Then you have to factor in the sometimes brutal English weather.

Sometimes, you can't have your players dribble all over the pitch and deploy a short passing game. It can be much more effective in inclement weather to launch long balls into the box, as unpleasant as that can be to watch.

Having a player like Andy Carroll can be a huge advantage.

It's easy to simply judge a striker on the amount of goals he's scored. This does have some validation, as strikers are paid large wages to put the ball in the back of the net.

But with Carroll, he has other ways in which he can positively affect the game.

Liverpool supporters shouldn't forget that it was a headed ball from Andy Carrol that found Dirk Kuyt for the winner against Manchester United in the FA Cup tie back in January.

Carroll has also been effective on corners in taking defenders away from the goal with him and in general just disrupting the goalkeeper.

These are the kinds of things that a player like Luis Suarez can't bring.

Carroll was at his best when he had Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan to play off of him.

Liverpool haven't been able to use this style that much because injuries have hit Steven Gerrard.

The entire squad plays much better when Gerrard is on the pitch, but a player like Carroll really needs him out there.

Carroll can't create a lot of goals on his own like Luis Suarez and Craig Bellamy. He needs someone like Gerrard, who can provide a steady supply line.

Fernando Torres probably would have never played as well as he did had it not been for Gerrard.

He might be 31 years old, but Stevie G can still be that talisman for Liverpool that he has been for years.

The attack in general has been bad at times for Liverpool this season.

They've only managed to score 33 goals in the league, which is good enough for 13th.

Luis Suarez and Craig Bellamy are the co-leaders in terms of goals at six.

As talented as he is, Suarez in particular has been very bad at converting chances. He's taken 95 shots and only managed to find the back of the net six times.

Bellamy has been much more effective, but with his knees, he can't play every match.

Carroll has been just as guilty as Suarez in contributing to Liverpool's barren patches, if not more guilty. But their problems go beyond just Carroll.

Other than Carroll, Liverpool have only two real strikers, Craig Bellamy and Luis Suarez. Bellamy probably excels more on the wing.

Even if Liverpool buy a striker this summer, it wouldn't make much sense to jettison Carroll.

The club is going to be playing the Europa League at the very least. That means more fixtures to worry about next year.

It's doubtful that the Europa League will be a high priority, but the club would still need more than three or four strikers.