Kenny on Carroll and Sunderland
Kenny Dalglish believes Andy Carroll is starting to show why Liverpool acted so decisively to secure his signature in January.
The 6ft 3 striker was signed following the departure of Fernando Torres in the New Year but injuries meant he spent more time in the treatment room than on the pitch as 2010-12 drew to a close.
Now Carroll looks to be benefitting from a summer break having nabbed three goals in six appearances during pre-season.
And Dalglish wrote in this week's LFC Magazine: "Andy's injury meant he was only able to train at 100 per cent on rare occasions last season. He even played in some games when we knew he wasn't going to be at his best.
"Now he is fully over that knock and has been able to do a lot more on the training field in pre-season. That's showed in the games he has played over the last few weeks. He's fitter and scoring some goals."
Liverpool begin their Barclays Premier League campaign at home to Sunderland on Saturday having dispatched Valencia in front of the Kop at the weekend.
That game provided a first taste of home football for new trio Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson, and Dalglish thinks they will have gained a lot.
"It was good for Jordan, Charlie and Stewart to get a run out at Anfield prior to the real action starting this weekend," he said. "That will benefit them all.
"We wanted to improve the squad this summer and we think we've done that by bringing in the individuals we have.
"We want to compete at the highest level possible and we feel those players can help us do that."
Despite the departure of Henderson, Sunderland look capable of tallying a fair amount of points this term having recruited seasoned pros like Wes Brown and John O'Shea.
Click on the play button below to watch Carroll's opener v Valencia
Connor Wickham, Craig Gardner, Ahmed Elmohamady, Wong-Don Ji, David Vaughan and Sebastian Larsson will also be wearing red and white over the next 10 months.
"Sunderland will be a difficult fixture," added Dalglish. "There's been a major turnaround of players there over the summer. We'll need to do a bit of revision and see which players Steve has brought in and let go. Their team will be very different to the one we faced back in March.
"Obviously Jordan is one they've lost. He's a good player who they would have been understandably reluctant to let go.
"But sometimes as a manager you've got to be philosophical and say if a player wants to go we should let him leave. I don't think (Sunderland fans) will have any animosity towards Jordan."