"I had to Google who my team-mates were" - Andy Carroll lifts lid on Liverpool nightmare

Andy Carroll admits he only knew who two of his new team-mates were upon moving to Liverpool in 2011.The Reds paid a then-record transfer fee for a British player when they signed the striker for £35m midway through the 2010/11campaign.However, Carroll struggled to make an impact at Anfield and was loaned out to West Ham in summer 2012.And the former England international, who rejoined Newcastle earlier this month, admits he was not taking football very seriously at the time of his move to Merseyside."When I was last here [atNewcastle].I’d go home, mess about with my mates, play football, go out, whatever, but I’d never watch football, I never knew any players," he told Newcastle's official website."I’d wake up on the Saturday morning saying, ‘who are we playing?’ It was just completely oblivious to all the football that was going on.“I would work at the training ground and knew my tactics, but until we had a meeting I didn’t know who we were playing, unless I asked someone."When I was in the helicopter down to Liverpool, I was like, ‘I know Stevie G, I know Carragher. Who else?’ My agent at the time had to tell me, and I would get it on Google and find out the team.“It’s bad because it’s Liverpool players, but it’s not disrespectful – I just literally didn’t watch football, so I didn’t know."Carroll has signed a one-year contract at Newcastle but is currently sidelined with an ankle injury.READ MORE11 Premier League players who could leave before the end of the European transfer window9 players who came to the Premier League too late in their careersRanked! The 7 most entertaining fixtures in the Premier League – and when they’re being played in 2019/20