He never made it into our style of play. We want(ed) to play pass-and-move, he is a target man. He just didn't fit in the jigsaw.
That's why he was arguably one of our best players for the last six to eight weeks of the season? Carroll can fit into a pass and move system, just like John Toshack did in the 70s. The trick is not to expect the big man (Carroll/Toshack) to be creative and flair like his strike partner (Suarez/Keegan) but instead allow him to play to his strengths which is to cause problems in and around the box for when the ball goes out wide.
Now obviously there's a huge difference in quality between Stevie Heighway and Ian Callaghan crossing a ball to Stuey Downing and Jordan Henderson but that's probably why Toshack could fit into the system so well. When the ball went out wide in the 70s, we had two wide men who could put the ball on a sixpence, now when it goes out wide we have two wide men who couldn't put it in the 18 yard box consistently.
Carroll could, and in my opinion does, have a role to play in a pass and move system.
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