Just How Influential Is Andy Carroll To West Ham?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Out-of-favour [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] arrived from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on loan on deadline day of the summer transfer window, he divided opinion amongst Hammers fans on his arrival, due to the stigma attached to both his and Sam Allardyce’s style, but now after 20 Premier League appearances for [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] how has the English striker faired?

It is fair to say that the Hammers fans have certainly warmed to Andy of late, and he is perhaps even the fans new favourite, due to the threat and pain he causes world class defenders. West Ham fans have always liked a hardened player but haven’t often seen it in the shape of a forward. Andy is known to bully defenders with his aerial presence and he is no stranger to putting his body about, just ask David De Gea. Andy averages almost ten (9.6) aerial challenges which he wins per game, whether this be defensively towards the end of a good result or offensively from set pieces, he is the leading average for most aerial challenges won in the English Premier League (inc. Defenders!).

Andy has just five goals to his name this season, however he has directly contributed (3 G 2 A) to five of eight goals in West Ham’s last four matches. It therefore suggests that Andy has re-found the form that he showed when at Newcastle and he is putting that to practice and producing excellent results.

Andy gives West Ham the threat that we have so long been searching for, it allows for other players to be freed up as the opposition worry mainly about how they will stop the big man. I can only imagine that for the midfielders that support Carroll’s knockdowns, it is an absolute pleasure to be able to consistently rely on him to produce aerially.

I feel that with Matty Jarvis continuing to produce the most successful amount of crosses in the Premier League that if both he and Andy can connect more frequently, the two will produce the results. I also feel that Big Sam could not do any better with his resources to get a more effective target man than Andy Carroll and with Sam’s contract renewal on the horizon; Andy should follow and be the talisman behind the move to the Olympic Stadium.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

He can stay as long as he likes. Always had a thing about long hair and biceps

Carroll makes a huge difference to the side now that he is fully fit. He clearly enjoys playing for the club, now that he has settled too.

He works his nuts off, and does some pretty fine defending, too. He finds space, he can provide a good ball into the box when necessary, makes a bloody nuisance of himself, and defenders hate to play against him (so do keepers, nice hatchet job on DeGea recently). With him on the pitch, we are always likely to score.

If the price is right, I would love to keep him.

I would def like to keep him at the right price of course and as Jo says now he is fit he certainly makes a difference to the side working his nuts off and giving the enemy lots of problems

Whether the upturn in Carroll's form has influenced the team as a whole or whether his upturn comes from the same source as a general improvement in the whole team - how can you find out?

like other peeps have said, for me the most satisfying aspect of Carroll's presence is that he works like madman when he plays and is fit. He's attacking, he's setting up, he's backtracking, he's defending... he really does get everywhere - and that kind of commitment and workrate must have an effect not only on the supporters but also on the players around him.

He seems happy here
The team seem happy to have him here
I'm certainly happier with him up front than anyone else we've got on our books at the moment

let's try to figure out a decent exchange rate and make him a full time West Ham player

We need Carroll - we are twice the team with him on the pitch. Trouble is we may not have deep enough pockets, and we might have to brace ourselves for losing him, so I really hope BFS and GaS have a Plan B (a plan that doesn't rely on Carlton, that is) I'd like to see Maiga and Paulista get some time on the pitch in the last few matches.

There is no doubt in my mind that Andy Carroll makes a huge difference to us when he is in the side. Not only for what he does himself but how others seem to thrive on what he brings to the team; in particular Kevin Nolan

BFS builds his attacking squad around players like Carroll. Bolton's focal point during the seasons they finished 6th in three consecutive seasons was Kevin Davies. Davies was a nightmare to mark - as we always found out when we played Bolton. In addition he had a half decent touch and was a perfect foil for the attacking midfielders that Bolton had at the time by bringing others into play

Andy Carroll is twice the player Kevin Davies ever was. Quicker, better touch and generally more dynamic. At 24 he is not even the finished article as a striker, as they normally don't peak until they are around 28

I hope we can keep him somehow

westhamonkey wrote:

Whether the upturn in Carroll's form has influenced the team as a whole or whether his upturn comes from the same source as a general improvement in the whole team - how can you find out?

like other peeps have said, for me the most satisfying aspect of Carroll's presence is that he works like madman when he plays and is fit. He's attacking, he's setting up, he's backtracking, he's defending... he really does get everywhere - and that kind of commitment and workrate must have an effect not only on the supporters but also on the players around him.

He seems happy here
The team seem happy to have him here
I'm certainly happier with him up front than anyone else we've got on our books at the moment

let's try to figure out a decent exchange rate and make him a full time West Ham player

Hasn't Paulista already headed off to South America?

Maiga's been pretty poorly dealt with... wouldn't be surprised to see him disappear off someplace else in search of regular football.

Which leaves us with....

Carroll... or... oh-gaw-blimey...

westhamonkey wrote:

Hasn't Paulista already headed off to South America?

I thought he had a six-month contract from January. Last I heard he was playing with the U-21s (?? but he's 28??) and scoring every other game - has he decided he's not going to get a chance in the full squad and cleared off early, then?

I think we should break the bank to keep him, even if it means buying no-one else in the summer. He just does it - end of!

Get your wallets out Daves

I enjoyed watching Carroll play last season, even though he was on the bench half the time and came on as a reserve. Even then I got the impression that he might have fitness problems as he hardly seemed to play a full game. That proved unfortunately true and we lost him to injury far to often. That seems to be a thing of the past though, and providing we can afford him, he is a major asset.

Carroll collects in the air and is not greedy about laying off the ball for others to get it in. He's all over the park, and has been said before, he gets back to defend and neutralise our opponents' attacks. His work rate is fantastic, which also seems spur on the rest of the team.

All in all, really glad we have had the pleasure to watch him play on our side, and I hope to see him in claret and blue next season.