Former Liverpool forward Andy Carroll has admitted he had to google his new teammates before joining the Reds in 2011.
Carroll revealed how he made an internet search for the Liverpool squad whilst in a helicopter to Merseyside to complete his £35million move from Newcastle.
In an interview quoted by the Mirror, Carroll made the bizarre claim that he simply didn’t watch football when not playing, therefore didn’t know other players other than his teammates.
“When I was last here (in Newcastle), I’d go home, mess about with my mates, play football, go out, whatever, but I’d never watch football, I never knew any players,” he said.
“When I was in the helicopter down to Liverpool, I was like, ‘I know Stevie G, I know Carragher. Who else?’ My agent at the time had to tell me, and I would get it on Google and find out the team.”
Carroll became the most expensive British player at the time of completing his move to Anfield but failed to make much of an impact – only scoring 11 goals in 58 games.
OPINION
It seems bizarre for Carroll to admit that he didn’t know the Liverpool squad at the time of his move, especially at a time when the Reds had some big names at the club. The forward never seemed to realise the enormity of the expectation on his shoulders at Liverpool, and going out of his comfort zone in Newcastle really seemed to affect his style of play. This admission really seems to sum Carroll’s entire career up, with the forward even failing to make much of an impact at West Ham United either – it appears that home comforts are the way to get him firing on all cylinders. At Newcastle, Carroll was involved in 54 goals – compared to Liverpool where he only played 32 fewer games but was only involved in the 17, despite the fact the Reds had a much more potent attack. Liverpool will have been delighted to get rid of Carroll, with his memory, not one that they like to remember – especially after he was voted as the worst-ever January signing in a report by Sky Sports at the beginning of this year.
