Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has explained why he sold Andy Carroll to West Ham United.
One of Rodgers' first acts after succeeding Kenny Dalglish as Liverpool manager was to offload Carroll to West Ham on a season-long loan and he subsequently sanctioned a £15million permanent move.
He said: "My thinking was that, when you play with a target man, he becomes the focal point of your team, so everything has to be set up around the big guy. Sometimes you get sucked into doing it more direct, and clearly, with my history as a coach, I don't work that way.
"Removing that means you have to connect your game better through the lines, through the thirds. Possession is not good enough on its own, you have to penetrate. That's what Luis (Suarez) does. He is always on the move, in spaces and in behind defenders.
"He can drift along the back line, he spins on the shoulder and he has got that freedom to do what he does best. You look at the goals he has scored in my time here, and not too many have been from whipped in crosses, which, to be fair, big Andy was brilliant at. The style has brought out Luis' qualities."
