England manager Fabio Capello urges Liverpool striker Andy Carroll to cut down beer drinking

Andy Carroll, England Vs France – International Friendly (GettyImages)

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England manager Fabio Capello has revealed that he has had a talk with young striker Andy Carroll, urging him to cut down on beer.

The 22-year-old hade made headlines for the wrong reasons during his Newcastle United days, and now his national boss has explained to the forward that he needs to keep his life away from the pitch in check to succeed on it.

The Italian also expressed his admiration for the striker, the most expensive British player in history, for his performances this season and tipped him for a big future.

“Carroll is a player, who’s really good in the air, but not only this,” said Capello.

“The movement when he receives the ball is good. With the ball. He’s strong. He’s a good player. He’s a good forward.

“Look, he’s young. Really young. His behaviour now is really, really important. Really important. He needs to be careful at every moment.

“When you play with the England national team, at every moment you are the focus of the fans, the newspapers, the photographers, the people that live around him.

“I spoke with him privately. I think not only Andy likes to drink beer. Not only Andy. He needs to improve, to drink less.”

There had previously been reports claiming that Liverpool had expressed concerns to Capello about picking Carroll for the friendly with Ghana.

But the 64-year-old rebuffed such rumours, and claimed that the striker is fit to start against the African nation at Wembley.

Capello said: “Absolutely no-one has rung me and we have not spoken with Liverpool.

“He needs to play. Liverpool will be happy for him to play. It is a friendly and he can play up to half-time, or more. For this reason, the game is important for him and for me.”