Andy Carroll. A name recently infamously associated with injuries that leave him out of the game for longer periods of time during a season.
This factor is quite inevitably a large problem, considering the fact that Carroll has somewhat become a pivotal part of this new West Ham United team. Record signings such as Matt Jarvis and Stewart Downing were signed on his exploits.
Therefore, without Carroll, these players are incapable of producing the kind of performances required of them and so morale and confidence is more likely to be at a low. Also, skipper Kevin Nolan has notably his best games when Carroll is playing in front of his close friend, and thus without him doesn’t show the form we know he is capable of.
And this isn’t the first time in which a West Ham side has an exceptional home-grown, talented, young forward with the capability of changing games within their ranks, of who is constantly suppressed by injury.
In 2006, Dean Ashton signed for the Hammers from Norwich City for a sum of £7million. But in the very same year he suffered a broken ankle whilst on International duty for England, which saw him out for the entirety of the domestic 2006-2007 campaign resulting in an inevitable relegation scrap, before clinching survival on the final day of the season in a nail-biting finale.
However, after many desperate attempts to regain Ashton’s fitness as quickly as possible, the injury became too much for Ashton and he was forced to retire from professional football aged just 26. And so West Ham’s star player, a player of which the club heavily relied on, was no longer a weapon at the clubs disposal and was left with little direction.
Between 2006-2009 Ashton could only grasp 48 appearances for the Hammers, netting 17 times – proving his capabilities. Carroll, on the other hand, has made just 24 appearances netting just seven times (all last season).
Any West Ham fan will tell you that having a presence like Andy Carroll on the pitch is an incredible asset. When fully fit, he is capable of playing technically very well, both with his feet and also characteristically good in the air, posing a threat to opposition proving his capability to finish and provide on a regular basis.
So a return of Andy Carroll could be considered vital to West Ham’s progression in the league this season. Since 2006, however, we have seen many technological advances in football and so you would expect the recovery process for Carroll will be much more thorough and will remove the issue more effectively than the treatment of Dean Ashton’s injury.
Despite this fact, some skepticism has been highlighted about Andy Carroll’s return to the front line, as many believe that he will not be as effective. But people forget that Carroll is still only 24-years-old and still has a lot of years left in him and so has time to develop into an all-round top striker. And so patience (in this case) will be a virtue as I feel rushing Carroll back will just cause reoccurrence of the injury resulting in longer periods out of the game. Thus the prevention of producing ‘another Ashton’ in Andy Carroll is crucial given the likenesses between the two lethal forwards.
Keep the Faith!
