Liverpool are back on their perch, there is no denying it.



The Anfield side are absolutely soaring under the tutelage of Jurgen Klopp and have the small matter of a Club World Cup final to look forward to today.

They are reigning Champions of Europe after clinching their sixth title earlier this year and are currently ten points clear at the summit of the Premier League.

The team is packed with world-class talent and no less than three reds - Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Sadio Mane - finished in the top five of the Ballon d'Or standings.

However, rewind a decade and the general outlook at Anfield was very, very different.


The club had just changed ownership and, even with Kop legend Sir Kenny Dalglish in charge, the uncertainty surrounding the Merseysiders was tangible.

Dalglish had managed to arrest an alarming slide that saw the Reds free fall into the relegation zone but just wasn't able to kick on and take them back into the Champions League.

Perhaps the aptest way to capture that particular chapter of Liverpool history is to revisit the signing of a certain Andy Carroll.

When Dalglish splashed a staggering £35 million on the towering Geordie, there were more than few eyebrows raised.

Long story short, it never worked out.

Carroll was plagued by injury and simply wasn't ever good enough to nail down a regular spot in the first team.

He was later sold by Brendan Rodgers as fans did their best to forget he ever wore a Red shirt.

Now, years after that thoroughly forgettable time, Carroll has opened up on the whole debacle, admitting that he secretly hoped he would fail his Liverpool medical.

"Do you know what," he began in conversation with the Daily Mail.

"I was injured at the time, and all I'm thinking is, 'Please, just fail the medical'."

"The minute I got on that helicopter I wanted to come back. I knew it had to happen. Whatever age, I needed to walk back on that pitch and play for Newcastle again.

"I remember leaving here (Newcastle's training ground) in Kevin Nolan's car because loads of people were outside. We went to his house and watched it on TV.



"I was like, 'I'm not going'. I'd just bought a house, and a cat the day before!

"But then I was told, 'You're going', and that was that."

Carroll's Merseyside chapter is not remembered fondly by many.

He simply couldn't cut the mustard and his constant injuries proved to be immensely frustrating after such a massive fee was coughed up for him.

It wouldn't be surprising if a few Liverpool fans were wishing that he had failed his medical as they read these comments.

It just was one of the worst fits you could hope for and it's good to see that the Reds have since learned their lesson.