Andy Carroll returned to the Irons team against West Brom and grabbed the goals that gave us three precious points.
CandH’s Daniel Danielli Leach watched his every move over the 90 minutes and here is his report on the big fella.
5 – Does a neat dummy to release Arnautovic onto the ball
8 – Loses control of the ball to opposition player
8 – Shields the opposition player really well to let Arnautovic towards goal
11 – Header from a goal kick is poor and goes out for a throw in
13 – Chests the ball well from a goal kick, turns his man and releases the ball to Arnautovic
15 – Chests the ball again from a clearance by Adrian and passes the ball to Lanzini
17 – Miskicked clearance from a West Brom free kick leads to no danger
20 – Heads the ball down to the edge of the box for Lanzini to unleash a shot
22 – Krychowiak beats him to the ball in an aerial duel
22 – Curled shot is tame and goes wide
24 – Controls the ball well with his chest but fails to assist Arnautovic
33 – Brings down the ball well in our own area but slips when making clearance
37 – Flick-on in the box leads to a Lanzini shot being well saved by Foster
42 – Heads the ball down in the box for a Kouyaté effort being saved from close range
45 – Wins a foul as Dawson tugs him
45+2 – Makes a great cross from the by-line but Kouyaté header skies over
46 – Sliding shot at a close range from a low cross by Arnautovic goes over
49 – Plays ball out wide to Zabaleta but cross is easily cleared
51 – Chests the ball well into the path of Arnautovic
52 – Wins a foul as he is held
52 – Gives away a foul for an apparent push
53 – Chests the ball to his feet and passes it out wide to Masuaku
58 – Plays a neat one touch pass to Masuaku
58 – GOAL – Textbook goal as he rises up to the ball from a cross by Cresswell to head the ball into Foster’s bottom left hand corner. 1-1.
60 – Slides in with a tackle to give away a silly foul
66 – Flick on to Masuaku leads to a throw in to us
71 – A header forward leads to a half-chance for Arnautovic
73 – Holds the ball up well from Gibbs but subsequent cross is cleared easily
76 – Header to Chicharito is poor
81 – Whips in a bad cross which is easily taken by Foster
84 – Heads the ball really well into the path of Chicharito
86 – Held in the box by Evans. Possible claim for a penalty
86 – Not in the right space when Chicharito plays a great low cross into the box
90+2 – GOAL – Starts and finishes the goal. Cushions the ball back skilfully from a long ball and runs into the box around the backpost and when the ball is crossed in on the ground by Arnautovic Carroll is there to finish with his weak right foot from a tight angle to win us the match. 2-1.
Verdict – 9 – Andy Carroll was back with a bang. Throughout the whole game he was a menace for the West Brom defence who struggled to cope with him. He played his usual game winning headers, aerial battles, flicks and most importantly winning us the game with his brace. He undeniably justified his selection by Moyes and silenced many critics including myself. The key for him will be to find consistency.
The happiest man on the pitch was , Carroll . He silenced more than a few critics who want him out . Hopefully anyway .
But there will still be the odd stubborn contingent that will persist .
Personally I’m very happy for him and even happier for West Ham United . Talk of selling him must now surely be seen as rediculous nonsense .
His critics were out in force again after the game, pretending that he did nothing other than score, so I’m glad you have put the record straight.
Noble once again showed how vital he is to the team, with his 94% pass completeion rate, and reading of the game. Oh and of course his captaincy. Obiang has never been a better player! As for Kouyate, he has spent the last 18 months proving he is no longer a going concern.
I thought Cresswell also had a decent game against a very lively WBA attack, and his deliveries were back to his best.
For me, I believe that every player is equally important to the squad, so I don’t have pet-hates, but some are more equally than others, even if they are English.
Having said that, we still of course need to strengthen whether from home-produced or foreign.
Yes – find consistency- and you could add ‘stay fit’. But I agree with Kevin’s verdict. Those were two nice goals. Not many strikers would have got the first & quite a few would have messed up the second. I am a Carroll fan but I have been saying all season that something has not been right with him. I thought it was that his injuries had done long term damage & we would not see him at his best again. This was only one game, but I am hoping he is going to prove me wrong. I know some fans don’t think he fits the game they want to see from us(& some just think he is rubbish!) but if he can maintain that sort of form & stay fit we will not be worrying about relegation in April.
But I also agree with Sleeps-have to strengthen. A ‘worry alert’ always goes off in my head when we win a game. I always get a picture of the Daves telling each other ‘I dunno Dave-I reckon we can blag it with this lot until the summer’.
I also think something has not been right with him this season. It is probably his worse form on the pitch since he arrived.
That is why he needs a pat on the back when he has a good game; like last night.
SO HE TOUCHED THE BALL once every 3 minutes ? Well let’s see him produce it again v spuds , its a joke when after scoring 2 goals ? His first of the season against a west brom side worse than us the luvvies are coming out in force ? Ish! To say how great the saviour is?
Not a Scooby ! Laughable , for 90,000 a week he should be doing it consistently but he can’t because he’s a poor footballer and once in a blue moon when fit he scores a goal with his head ! He’s good at it sometimes when its on a plate and when he uses his height and strength without his elbows but on a consistent level he’s not been winning headers and when he does 9out of 10 go anywhere but to a player ! Were all pleased he scored but before he gets any praise from me he needs to be consistent and if people think 2 goals will change the obvious faults in and out of the game are justification to knock his critics is absolute brain dead ! Laughable ! Let’s see what happens on Thursday and the rest of the season!
If he stays fit that is ! Then give a true accessement of his contributions , he’s been poor all season and not on his own , ? 2 goals and he’s a blinding player and all his critics are wrong 😂😂 pass the absynth kev ! I need to see what you and one or two others see !!
Happy for west ham but not fooled in anyway because of 2 goals !! He actually hit the target !
Twice ? 3 all season if you count a pass back to the opposed keeper a few weeks back ? Or was it months ? That’s how good he’s been when called upon ! Spuds next ! Let’s hope he comes good because if he doesn’t all us haters 😂 not ! Will be back ! 9 from 10 ? Then I give ogbonna , Arnie , lanzini all 25 out of 10 ?
There were people sitting around me cheering when cresswell was pulled of ? What a poor player he is , rice made him look what he has been ever since he’s been at west ham ! Very average and can’t defend at all ! Nada ! Managed one cross which Carroll scored from , the rest of the night were poor like his passing and positional play ! Crap in a word ! Obiang , kouyate , and reid were worse ? Apart from that I’m a happy chappie we got 3 lucky points !😉
Steady on Laz you miserable old b*****!!!
I don’t think anybody is saying he is Ronaldo or even Shearer. He’s more John Toshack or Duncan Ferguson. Just saying that he will score goals at a decent rate if he plays like he has done over the last 5/6 years & stays fit. OK he won’t stay fit, but on past form if he plays 10 of the last 16 games he would score 5 or 6 goals & make a couple of others. That could be enough to keep us up.
Posted that before I had finished. I was also going to say to Lazarus- make a NewYear resolution to be a very very happy chappie. When you are just happy you still sound like an axe murderer lol 😤😤😡😡😡 Keep smiling (or do I mean start smiling?) and take plenty of deep breaths before you burst a gasket. Happy New Year mate😀😀😀😀
😂 herrrrres johnnnnnny 😂🔪
Carroll’s had his day , he’s a piece of crap who’s been taking everybody for ride from day one , I for one don’t want him scoring 5-7 goals a season !! When fit ? Not acceptable that ! I’m not that easily pleased or full of euphoria because the 90,000 + a week failure got 2 goals and we got 3 points ! I say what I see with no malice and if people think I’m not a happy chappie it,s their problem ! Unless youve ever met me its all guess work old boy ? I say things as I see them and Carroll has not delivered throughout his contract ! He’s gave us dribs and drabs and I’m done with him ,as are many others lol!
Not so much of the miserable barsteward either you old fart 😂 my new years resolution is to not listen to bull💩 without replying to it, can’t reply to my own so I’ll leave that for others
😂 , and the Carroll euphoric comments me old mate imo are full of it ? I even stayed to the end for him as well ! Many didn’t ? Shame he couldn’t hit 3 with the miss of a novice after half time ! That would have left 4 more to get 😉 Kev would have needed a defibulator at hand 😂, anyway , happy new year to you and all.
Especially keV , 😁😁😁