Time for Carroll to deliver the goods

Andy Carroll has struggled to live up to his huge transfer fee at Liverpool

Kenny Dalglish bristles when the media ask him about the form (or lack of it) of Andy Carroll.

He insists the beanpole striker will come good and has blasted the "obsession" and "paranoia" the country has with him.

But how much longer can Liverpool afford to wait for him to deliver?

He has scored three times in 16 games since joining in January, and for a striker who cost £35million, that is simply not good enough.

That astronomical transfer fee made him the most expensive British player of all-time but he has looked off the pace and out of his depth during his time at Anfield.

It was only natural the country got excited about him last season when he was banging in the goals for Newcastle, performing like a typical English number nine and becoming the eighth-most expensive footballer of all-time.

And it is only natural he now finds himself under close scrutiny and criticism after eight months of flattering to deceive and failing to nail down a regular starting slot at Liverpool.

At 22, it is far too early to label Carroll an Anfield flop, but the huge transfer fee is cranking up the pressure and with it the criticism.

Scoring a goal or two in this weekend's Merseyside derby will help him no end but the longer his lack of form goes on, the harder it is going to be for Carroll to prove himself.

Anyone who watched him in his last year and a half at Newcastle will know how good he is and potentially could be.

Carroll looks a shadow of the player he was in the first half of last season at Newcastle

But at St James' Park he was in a team tailored to his style and he has struggled to adapt in a Liverpool team where he isn't necessarily the main man.

This season, he has twice found himself on the bench for league games and on Saturday against Wolves he missed two gilt-edged opportunities.

The much-anticipated partnership with Luis Suarez hasn't materialised, with the Uruguayan starring and the Geordie floundering.

And then there is the much-discussed subject of his private life.

Carroll likes a drink - that much is well-known - but we don't truly know the facts of what he gets up to and so we can only really judge him on what he does on the pitch.

Sadly for him, the verdict is damning.

Already Liverpool fans are losing patience and unless Carroll starts performing fast, he could find himself confined to the bench regularly and fall behind Craig Bellamy in the striking pecking order.

Liverpool supporters grew accustomed to having a pacy, composed and technically excellent finisher in Fernando Torres and so the comparisons between Carroll and the Spaniard have been inevitable.

Torres is back among the goals at Chelsea, increasing the spotlight on Carroll

Torres had a shocking start to life at Chelsea and continues to have his struggles but there are now signs he may be getting back to the form of his Liverpool days. There are no real signs Carroll is returning to his Newcastle form and so Torres' renaissance is only going to add to the pressure.

If Carroll was to fall down the Liverpool pecking order and find game-time limited, that would obviously hinder his prospects of playing for England at next summer's European championships, a tournament where he was supposed to be one of his country's main men.

It is too early to suggest Carroll's Liverpool career is doomed, but there is only so long Dalglish can keep faith with him before he has to admit defeat.

Maybe Carroll needs to be in a team who get the ball into the box earlier. Maybe he can't adapt to life on Merseyside.

His presence is not helping Liverpool at the moment and that could perhaps lead to his departure in January or next summer.

It may be too early to talk in those terms and if the Anfield club were to sell now, they would certainly make a huge loss, but it has to be a possibility unless he starts to show his undoubted potential.

Dalglish has always insisted Carroll was a signing for five-and-a-half years, not just a few months, but what is clear is that he cannot wait that long for his striker to deliver.

Dalglish is showing tremendous loyalty to Carroll but will it be to Liverpool's detriment?

At times for Liverpool, Carroll has drifted wide and dropped too deep and that is simply not his game.

He is useful with the ball at his feet but his real strength is getting in the box, using his heading ability and ferocious left foot.

Carroll's performance level against Wolves was improved but he is still nowhere near the level he was at during his days at St James' Park and the worry must be he will never reach those levels at Liverpool, where the style of play does not suit him.

He has an awful lot to prove and not a lot of time to do it. Dalglish may keep the faith but fans may not be so understanding.

Opposition fans will jump on anything he does wrong and those cries of "what a waste of money" will get louder the longer his lack of goals continues.

Carroll's confidence appears to be battered and that is going to get worse for each game he doesn't find the net.

Can Carroll regain his goalscoring touch?

The worrying thing for him must be that Liverpool look a much stronger side when he is not in it.

They don't feel obliged to pump the ball in the box and they don't feel reluctant to give him the ball when he drops deep.

Carroll should have time to turn his Liverpool career around but football is a cut-throat business and the £35million transfer fee means time is in short supply. Newcastle must be laughing all the way to the bank to have got that much for him.

If he performs well against Everton on Saturday and gets on the scoresheet, he will come away as a derby hero and much of the frustration of his time at Anfield will begin to subside.

But if he is ineffective at Goodison Park the knives will be out and Dalglish will be under pressure to end his unwavering faith in the striker and banish him to the bench.

It's time for Carroll to finally deliver.