Carroll´s England debut a damp squib

Andy Carroll’s first taste of England action couldn’t have been more of a contrast to his headline-grabbing exploits in recent weeks.

After all the pre-match moralising over Carroll’s England debut in Wednesday’s 2-1 friendly defeat against France, the controversial Newcastle striker’s contribution was something of a damp squib in the rain at Wembley.

The 21-year-old gave a typically whole-hearted display but was starved of quality service and looked an isolated figure for long periods.

With little to work with, the jury remains out on Carroll’s ability to transfer his club form to the international arena.

Scoring 19 goals to help Newcastle win promotion from the Championship last season and then netting seven times in the top-flight this term showed Carroll’s potential.

But it is the personal problems that have dogged Carroll this year which have made him front-page news.

In October, Carroll was bailed to live with Newcastle captain Kevin Nolan after appearing in court charged with assaulting an ex-girlfriend.

His off-field baggage also includes having his car torched outside Nolan’s house and then being the subject of a tabloid newspaper report that alleged two women brought drugs into Nolan’s house after a night out with the Newcastle duo, although Carroll denies any knowledge of the substances.

Carroll was also reported to have broken team-mate Steven Taylor’s jaw during a training ground row last season.

Capello responded to those alarming incidents by warning Carroll to clean up his act in a face-to-face meeting this week.

But Carroll, who was passed fit despite Newcastle’s concerns over his groin injury, has never been the shy, retiring type, so it was hardly surprising that he showed no sign of nerves on his debut.

He seemed to unsettle French centre-backs Philippe Mexes and Adil Rami early on and underlined the qualities he can bring to the team with two perfectly-weighted headers.

The first sent James Milner galloping into the penalty area, while the second should have brought a better effort than Steven Gerrard’s miscued strike.

He had his first shot after half an hour but couldn’t muster the power to seriously test Hugo Lloris from the edge of the penalty area.

However, although Carroll demonstrated the blood and thunder approach England expects from its’ number nines, his physical presence brought far less reward than the contrasting style of France goal-scorer Karim Benzema.

How Capello must wish he had a forward of Benzema’s class. Carroll’s effort couldn’t be faulted but his rudimentary sledgehammer approach to leading the line looked stone-age in comparison to Benzema’s sleek skills.

It didn’t help that, with France dominating possession, Capello’s decision to play Carroll as a lone forward left him far too isolated.

England struggled to get Gerrard, Milner and Theo Walcott into good positions to service the big targetman and he was rendered redundant for long periods.

He forced a save from Lloris with a second half header but was replaced by Jay Bothroyd moments later to bring the curtain down on a forgettable debut.