West Brom striker Andy Carroll has just ‘one negative’ – journalist
West Brom signed the tall target man striker Andy Carroll late into the January transfer window in a desperate attempt to find someone who can score.
Previous manager Valerien Ismael brought the former England international to The Hawthorns, only to be sacked days later after a 2-0 defeat to Millwall.
The 33-year-old has played every minute of football available since he arrived at the club but he, and the Baggies, are yet to score in that time.
Express and Star journalist Joseph Masi thinks he knows why it hasn’t gone to plan for Carroll as he explained in the Baggies Broadcast Podcast.
“One negative thing about Andy Carroll – and there is only one negative thing – is he really hasn’t got any pace, bless him,” Masi said.
“The issue with him is he has got no pace, as in almost zero. I mean, bless him, when he starts to run, his whole body is running, but he’s only going a little bit quicker than when he’s walking.”
Play to his strengths
Even as a young player at Newcastle, Carroll was never blessed with pace but he was still mightily effective when his team played to his strengths.
He has never been a player who can stretch defences but pump the ball up to him and you will struggle to find a better target man in world football, let alone the Championship.
Everyone wants to see fancy football these days but with such a presence up front, West Brom have to start going long to him so he can hold the ball up and bring in the creative talent behind him.
If you’re going to play a tiki-taka, possession style of football, then there is absolutely no point in Carroll being around the place and you might as well save on the wages and get rid.
If Steve Bruce starts to use him as he should be, the goals will soon start flowing again for the Baggies and they can finally look up the table rather than down.
In other West Brom news, Sam Allardyce has shared who he recommended to the Baggies board before they hired Ismael in the summer.