After his recent ill-tempered antics ClaretandHugh put Andy Carroll under the spotlight against Leicester.Our man PlayerWatch reporter Danny Danielli Leach brings you his every minute by minute touch
6 – Morgan gets above him to win a header
8 – Repeat of above after conceding first goal
13 – Cushions the ball brilliantly from a goal kick with his feet
16 – Great control with his chest from a goal kick before releasing it to Masuaku
19 – Sublime control with his knee from a goal kick
22 – Refer to minute 16 but ball goes to Cresswell
23 – Uses strength to win the ball in an aerial battle with Iborra
26 – Cresswell plays a great through ball down the channel but Morgan beats Carroll to it
41 – Gives away a foul for pushing Iborra in the back
43 – Rises well to win header from a Lanzini cross but comes to nothing
45+1 – Retains the ball brilliantly under pressure in between two players from a Cresswell throw in with his chest and feet
50 – Aerial scuffle leaves Maguire in some minor discomfort
57 – Takes a poor first touch from an Obiang pass
58 – Fails to complete what would have been a great one-two with Kouyaté
64 – Does a great bit of ball work with his feet before releasing it to Arnautovic
70 – Chests the ball but it goes flying away from him
77 – Heads a neat flick on to Kouyaté
80 – Wins a foul after both Ndidi and Iborra tug his shirt simultaneously
81 – Makes a crucial tackle on Chilwell as Leicester were on the counter attack
82 – Heads ball away from an incoming corner but we fail to counter successfully
90+2 – Flicks on ball to Ayew with his head who in turn flicks it himself but no one is in the box to capitalise
Verdict: 6.5 – Carroll had certainly listened well in midweek as he did not look like the wrecking ball he can often be. He worked tremendously hard up top and did what he did best: Holding up the ball. However if we want him to be more effective we need to give him more feasible crosses from out wide which were not enough on the night.
Had enough of him, how many games is that without a goal. Come on Moyes kop on and get him out of the team. If you want him in the team to defend corners then play him as a centre half. How many times did he get in a position to score – he spent more time way outside their box. We would have won the game tonight if you had put a mobile player up top after 60 minutes. Your inability to see that cost us 2 points tonight.
If he is going to play when fit as looks likely under Moyes he needs a strike partner who can feed off him.Surely Hernandez when fit or Sakho.Does not need a tactical genius to work out how we are going to play with him in the side as a lone front man.Play to his strengths.Good performance tonight from the team and i suppose more ambition up front will come with some steady results but hell we have a hard month of fixtures coming up.
Fair enough in relation to holding up the ball and a few good headers, but isn’t he supposed to be scoring goals (with either feet and/or head).
Two options for Moyes: 1) if he wants to continue with Carroll, he must have a co-striker, 2) if he wants more than one goal/game he should be thinking of using Carroll as a late-game sub, and starting with strikers who are more likely to score goals; ie Sakho and Chicharito (plus or minus Martinez).
By contrast, if Moyes continues to use Carroll as single lone-wolf, it will probably mean that other players (Lanzini, Antonio, Ayew, Arnautovic, Kouyate) will be required to score 2-3 goals/game; this is a lower-probability scenario.
Given our present situation, if I was the gaffer, I’d be looking to score 2-3 goals/game irrespective of the opponents. teams that average 2-3 goals per game, usually win their majority of games, compared to teams who score 0-1 goals/game.
It was interesting to read the report on Andy Carroll by your Player Watch reporter.
The English language provides us with so many different adjectives to describe the actions of a football player. I believe that actions ultimately speak louder an words.
I note the use of terms like brilliantly (x 2), great (x 3), sublime, and tremendously to describe the actions of Carroll in this game.
In fairness, Carroll threw himself about quite a bit-well done him.
Did Carroll score a goal; did he have any serious shots or headers on goals (no x 2!).
If you can maintain a 6.5/10 (or 65%) average throughout a 4 year university program, you have a strong chance of obtaining class II Honors on your graduation certificate.
Supporters of Andy Carroll may suggest that Andy didn’t receive enough accurate passes for him to convert. I’m sorry, but Andy was assigned the role of our single striker- when you have this assignment, you have to do a little more than just waiting for the ‘perfect’ cross/corner for him to head home. The very best of strikers, will create chances for themselves, as well as for others. They are usually blessed with good pace and acceleration, and can often beat 2 defenders and then get the ball pass the GK into the net-don’t think I need to name the players who do it, week in, week out.
My own personal verdict is that as an athlete, Carroll showed moderate improvement and volition; as a striker, I would find it hard to assign him more than 5.0- 5.5/10, since he was unable to fulfill the requirement expected of him. A single goal or an assist would have done much to allow the assignment of a better grade. bear in mind, that some of these comparison are relative to the performance of other players; Masuaku deserved a 7.0 to 7.5 grade for his creativity and exciting runs; Arnautovic a 6.5 for a much improved performance, Lanzini a 6.5 to 7.0 for a reasonably good performance (although still way short of his best-is he injured), and Kouyate a 7.0 for a non-stop strong running game plus our all-important equalizing goal!
David Moyes a 5.0 for using a bad formation (4-2-3-1 is not right for this team), playing Andy Carroll at the total expense of Diafra Sakho,, but some praise for not playing Noble and managing to include both Cresswell and Masuaku.
So a 5.0 is bare pass, and given the importance of his position as manager, we should be expecting grades of at least 6.5 if he is to save us from relegation. After all, although it is far too early to make any criticism of him, we have only manged to gain 1 point out of 6 in our last 2 games, which is worrying considering the teams we will be playing through December!
COYI
I’m no fan of AC Max but just how do you expect him to get on the end of crosses when 90% of them don’t get by the first defender? The quality of crossing, and general service, with the exception of a couple from Arnie, was dreadful. I’d like to see a more mobile, twin strike-force, (not Sakho by the way), but even this feeds on quality service, and currently we just do not have the quality in midfield, or wing-back, to supply it. Even Lanzini is looking out of sorts and he is head and shoulders the best we have. Some of his crossing last night was beyond poor for a player of his undoubted quality. So let’s start to improve the service, create more chances, and then if the strikers fail to put them away, we can rightfully moan at them then. Currently it’s no better than occasional scraps and hopeful dead balls.
We need creativity badly & Lanzini seems out when AC is in front of him bc it seems just hoof the ball to Andy. When Lanzini is best in mid on the ground.
All of our recent strikers have been starved of decent service since Payet left. Carroll did his best but I don’t understand our strategy with knock ons etc- know one gets on the end of them! Not using Sakho was criminal – he runs channels and would pose Morgan etc a different problem. Moyes is still finding his way but 1 point out of 6 against two average sides is still relegation form
So still no goals for Carroll. He’s averaged 6 per season since he’s been with us. Sam signed him for his aerial threat and at the time for the knock down to Nolan which I can’t recall resulting in a goal.
His signing was of course on merit and nothing to do with Allardyce and Carroll having the same agent (Mark Curtis).
An interesting stat popped up last night – Carroll’s had 19 shots this season (yes 19 as a centre forward) and only 3 of those were on target. A lucky man to be earning £100k per week.
Can’t physically jump from a standing start. You can see him trying to chest it every time he isn’t able to take a running jump (elbows!)
He never challenges the opposing player heading it away in the standing start situation. Just leans into him and hopes for the best.
Also hasn’t got a burst of pace any more. Can’t get into the box, hangs out static at the back post too often, or static on the edge of the area and never ever makes a near post run, despite it being obvious after 20 mins that is where the crosses were going to go. If would have to beat 4 defenders and a goalkeeper before it ever reached where Carroll was standing.
+1
Can’t see how Arfur can get a better rating than Arnie.