Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has explained that he had to sell Andy Carroll in order to implement a system designed to extract the very best from Luis Suárez.
Carroll and Suárez were both signed by Kenny Dalglish in lucrative deadline-day deals in January 2011 after Fernando Torres was sold to Chelsea for £50 million.
But Carroll failed to justify his British record transfer fee of £35 million, struggling with form and fitness before being offloaded to West Ham on loan last season.
The ex-Newcastle United hitman eventually joined the Hammers on a permanent deal in the summer, and Rodgers believes his departure has allowed Suárez to take up a free role for the side.
"I just felt it wouldn't benefit Luis because when you play with a big target man, it is hard not to make him your focal point, so everything has to be set around the big guy," Rodgers told reporters.
"Sometimes you get sucked into doing it more direct and clearly, with my history as a coach I don't work that way.
"You look at the goals that Luis has scored in my time, there has not been too many that have been too many that have been whipped-in-crosses, which to be fair, big Andy was brilliant at.
"What we try to do here is create the environment for the elite player - and Luis is an elite player
"We have created an environment for all our players, but obviously for him I had to make a call last year by letting Andy Carroll go out on loan.
"That created a situation where we could get the benefit of Luis' talent, but he still had to perform, and he has done that tremendously well."
Rodgers has certainly been justified in his decision to back the talents of Suárez over Carroll, with the Uruguayan forward having scored 36 times in his last 42 Premier League appearances for the club.
Carroll, meanwhile, has scored seven goals in his 24 games for West Ham, and has not played at all this season due to injury.
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| Brendan Rodgers has decided a Luis Suárez-Andy Carroll partnership wouldn't work Photo: Getty Images |
Carroll and Suárez were both signed by Kenny Dalglish in lucrative deadline-day deals in January 2011 after Fernando Torres was sold to Chelsea for £50 million.
But Carroll failed to justify his British record transfer fee of £35 million, struggling with form and fitness before being offloaded to West Ham on loan last season.
The ex-Newcastle United hitman eventually joined the Hammers on a permanent deal in the summer, and Rodgers believes his departure has allowed Suárez to take up a free role for the side.
"I just felt it wouldn't benefit Luis because when you play with a big target man, it is hard not to make him your focal point, so everything has to be set around the big guy," Rodgers told reporters.
"Sometimes you get sucked into doing it more direct and clearly, with my history as a coach I don't work that way.
"You look at the goals that Luis has scored in my time, there has not been too many that have been too many that have been whipped-in-crosses, which to be fair, big Andy was brilliant at.
"What we try to do here is create the environment for the elite player - and Luis is an elite player
"We have created an environment for all our players, but obviously for him I had to make a call last year by letting Andy Carroll go out on loan.
"That created a situation where we could get the benefit of Luis' talent, but he still had to perform, and he has done that tremendously well."
Rodgers has certainly been justified in his decision to back the talents of Suárez over Carroll, with the Uruguayan forward having scored 36 times in his last 42 Premier League appearances for the club.
Carroll, meanwhile, has scored seven goals in his 24 games for West Ham, and has not played at all this season due to injury.
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