14 Comments

High Carroll praise from Slav

Slaven-Bilic-Andy-Carroll-Football365Slaven Bilic was happy with the Juventus test at the now officially opened London Stadium declaring: ““It was a packed Stadium against one of the biggest clubs and best teams in Europe.

“It was a good test for us and great to see the fans filling our Stadium again.”

But he added: “We started sloppily – we hit the post after 15 minutes but they are a top class team and if you are on the back foot and give them a yard, they can pass the ball and play football.

“If you give them three or four yards then it’s too easy for them. That’s what we gave them at the start – okay we played three nights ago and were a little bit tired – but then after that we came back into the game and changed the rhythm.

“It was much more aggressive, we made it harder for them and Andy scored his type of goals. They are of course very important for us and he is great for us.

“Then we put some young players in because we don’t want to risk injuries and that kind of things. We thought it was going to end 2-2, but then we conceded one that from our point of view was too easy and sloppy.”

 

About Hugh5outhon1895

Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!" Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon

14 comments on “High Carroll praise from Slav

  1. Two decent crosses, two Carroll goals. He is a nightmare for defences in the heading dept.
    When he has support up with him for the long ball, he will head it on.
    For heavens sake use the bloke properly. If you isolate him too far ahead of the attacking midfield, he is wasted.
    Play him as he should be played and he’ll be your 20 goal merchant.
    ‘Nuff said.

  2. I’m a fan of Carroll but he ain’t never going to be a prolific goal scorer.20 goals in a season,no chance imho.I wouldn’t mind being proved wrong though lol

  3. It was a good match and a good test for our team . Bilic gave the younger players a chance to show Thier stuff . We lost , but I was happy with what I saw against a very technically capable Juventus . Carroll is another story and you have to wonder if we could have won if he stayed on , but Bilic gave the youngsters Thier chance . Valencia proved a lot of people wrong today In my opinion . Young Byrum was brill . Noble looked a little lost but with so many changes it must have been very difficult to maintain control . . In general it was a great test and although we didn’t win there was a lot of promise shown . We are looking good .
    Bring on Chelsea next Monday .. I feel confident we can have a very good season . Our new home ( London stadium ) didn’t phase the players or the fans . Obviously missing a striker but looks like we will get one or two before the window closes . All in all very promising . COYI .

  4. If he gets the right service, he will score plenty, Antman. The real problem is if (and I know it’s a big if) he can stay fit.
    Last season’s hatrick v the Arse shows that he can rack ’em up.
    If the fitness gods are on our side 20 is not beyond him.
    Let’s both pray for a great season!

  5. Yesterday I wrote questioning how much we really need another striker and Carroll just emphasized the question. He seems to be on the verge of being the player we paid a fortune for.
    Slav made it clear there will not be a flood of new players still coming and when you think he is struggling to find a place for a quality player like Antonio it makes sense. As he said we are a very good team and with Ahew near guaranteed, a replacement for Cresswell on his way, plus this deal for the. Argy still apparently alive it,s ( and that doesn’t even include Enner’s sudden re-emergence ) time to put away the cheque books and focus on moulding together the very good squad we have

    • Yeah I agree with much of that Canny.The only fly in the ointment is the fitness issues of our forwards but if Ayew,Calleri come in + Fletcher we will be able to have some pretty good replacements if the inevitable striker injury curse strikes.I have a feeling one of Sakho or Valencia will stay now.Im not Enners biggest fan but you cant knock his commitment.Mind you he is in the shop window,perhaps that is his incentive for his slight (IMO) re-emergence lol

    • Sorry to say , canchaz ; but Carroll proved his worth last season after coming back from his third injury . Don’t really understand why fans are so against him . He has scored that goal that meant the difference between losing and winning so many times now that for fans to continually doubt him is beyond my logic barrier .

  6. Despite the result, today was great. Really loving the new stadium! Juve were a great test and if we are being honest there is still work to be done before we are in their league. That being said I thought Byram looked very good and was generally happy with everyone.

    However, for me, Enner doesn’t make the cut (he gives the ball away too much) and is the sale we need to make to trim the number of wide players. Would be happy to see Bony come in (although he wasn’t my first choice), especially for 13m. We do need a left back and ASAP. Byram is quality so let him be our first choice right back. So bony, a LB and an attacking centre mid (I know some might disagree but when Payet and Lanzini don’t play we lack someone who can play that killer pass and resort to going over the top too much). Having had a few beers, I say let’s go put a loan bid in for Isco 🙂

  7. Haha, I fear the beers have got the better of you blokes!
    And surely you meant Messi, not Aguero.

  8. When Carroll is fit he scores. Simple as. No one doubts he is the best at what he does and he gives you so much more than many more selfish strikers. His link up play and his defensive abilities for instance. In the last game a few days ago he had two assists and in this game two goals. I don’t know what more he has to do to prove himself to the doubters in terms of his great quality as a footballer. If he stays fit for a whole season I think he can be prolific. The only doubts are to do with whether he can stay fit. He can stop throwing himself into challenges. That’s the only worry.

  9. Carroll should never start a match for us this season if we start with 1 up top. If we start two up top then he is better equipped to start. I am afraid Bilic is putting too much faith in him like his predecessor. I personally am disappointed because I see west ham as a passing team and with Carroll up top on his own, I hate to say it but that will not happen due to his lack of mobility. I am surprised at Bilic and his staff for not recognising this and I think if he does not it will be 10 games into the season before this clicks with Carroll. I think he has a tremendous amount to offer with 20-30 mins to go and we need to go two up top.

  10. Juve allowed West Ham back into the game – it was a friendly after all – there was a chasm in class between the two teams. Juve are amongst the top handful of clubs in Europe whereas, realistically, we are aiming to be in the top half of the Premiership.

    Bilic needs reinforcements to raise the quality of the first team – hopefully a bit of pruning with the departures of Valencia (and Sakho) – and a decent goalscorer to give them a true cutting edge!

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