Carroll is part of a return to the Shankly days - Dalglish

[DexteR]

Kenny Dalglish says the management team at Liverpool are trying to re-establish the foundations once laid down by the legendary Bill Shankly, and he claimed the determination and spirit of Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson are crucial to the project.

Dalglish, in his first full season back as manager, led the Reds to their second cup final of the season with a 2-1 FA Cup semi-final win over Everton on Saturday. Victory in the final would see Dalglish lift the Carling Cup and FA Cup just 18 months into his reign.

At Wembley it was £35 million man Carroll who scored the winning goal, answering plenty of critics who have labelled him a flop during his time at Liverpool. Dalglish sees it differently, insisting the mental fortitude of players such as Carroll and Henderson will help Liverpool rebuild the ethos of hard work and honesty at the club.

"Those two lads, neither have given anything less than what they've got to give," Dalglish told ESPN in an exclusive interview.

"As long as they give everything they have to give, we stand by them, 100 per cent. We all make mistakes, but at 20 or 21 years of age it's hard to play consistently in the top league in the world.

"We're here to put a great foundation down, like the people such as myself, Alan Hansen, Phil Thompson had in the 80s thanks to Shanks. All that the great players had done for us, we're now trying to put down that foundation and start moving forward with Liverpool Football Club.

"There needs to be a lot of decisions made, some will be right and some wrong, but we need to win more games than we lose and to do that we need everybody committed. The owners have been a breath of fresh air, but this is new for a lot of the players [at the moment].

"It's becoming more comfortable for them (Carroll and Henderson), and for them to have adjusted like they have has been rewarding for us. The two lads can be pleased with the efforts they've put in this year. They can play better, they would admit that, but they're good players."

Dalglish also points out that there are plenty of other high profile managers, such as former England boss Fabio Capello, who rate the Liverpool duo.

"Andy has played and scored for England, Jordan has played for his country, so there's other people who think highly of them as well - it's not just us. We'll give them the support they need and we'll get the reward back."

Reflecting on a frustrating season for Liverpool that has seen them excel in the cups but struggle in the league, Dalglish admits he does not know if the eight-match ban received by Luis Suarez for racial abuse affected his squad. However, the Liverpool boss did confess that he would handle the situation very differently if it happened again.

"You'll never know how much the situation affected things. It happened and we needed to deal with it, and we did deal with it," Dalglish said. "We've just got to brush ourselves down, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and get on with it. Luis has done that since and so has the football club.

"I think it would be dealt with completely differently if it happened again. It would be done completely differently. I won't say publicly what I'd do differently, but I know what I'd do differently. I'll address that, if I've done something wrong I'm not frightened to say I've done something wrong and I can do something better.

"Everybody can look at themselves and think, "I could do things much better'. And that's what I'll try to do."

Asked if he would swap success in the FA Cup and Carling Cup for a Champions League place, Dalglish replied: "No. I'd take the cup results and try to improve the league results. I'd never take away winning cup competitions."

[Chandbhai]

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