Bilic defends Carroll’s slow start

Slaven Bilic has told reporters post-match that it was difficult for Andy Carroll to get up to speed when he was thrown into the London derby after Michail Antonio pulled up injured. Internet rumours before the game suggested that Carroll took also took a knock in training and that was one of the reasons he was dropped to the bench on Saturday as a precaution.

Bilic was challenged why Carroll took so long to get into the game and gave away the ball which led to the first goal.

Bilic responded “Yeah but what can you do? The players are warming up, those who are starting are warming up better and a bit more but even before that, he was ok. When you put the player in that rhythm, a derby game, 100mph, the player needs a few minutes to come into the game but you can’t predict that someone us going to get injured.”