Frustrated Andy Carroll tells David Moyes to start him more after West Ham double

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Ken Dyer3 January 2018

Andy Carroll’s message to David Moyes could not have been clearer. “I want to start more games,” said the striker, whose two goals against West Brom on Tuesday took West Ham out of the bottom three of the Premier League.

“It’s been very frustrating, I’ve been sitting on the bench and it’s been tough. I’ve been wanting to get out there and start games. It’s hard when you come on for the last 20 minutes.

“When I have come on I think I’ve been making an impact but it’s not really what I want to do. I don’t want to be an impact player coming off the bench.

“When I was called upon for this game I felt like I needed to show what I was about and try to push my way back into the team from the start.”

It was Carroll’s first Premier League start for five weeks and only the third time he had been in the starting XI since Moyes took charge 11 games ago.

Despite Carroll’s misgivings, he certainly made a huge impact, first bulleting home a header in the 59th minute from Aaron Cresswell’s cross after West Brom had taken a first-half lead through a deflected shot from James McClean — and then stroking in the winner from a tight angle in the fourth minute of added time.

“Aaron put the ball right on a plate for me for the first goal,” said the striker, whose career has been punctuated by injury. “Any touch and it was going in. With the second one it was another great ball, a tight angle but a right foot shot back across the goal and it was in.

“It was a massive win for us. It’s very tight at the bottom and it’s nice to pull away. We have to continue working hard like we did against West Brom because going 1-0 down was tough.”

At the double: Andy Carroll
Getty Images

In truth, West Ham were awful in the first half but Moyes changed things at the break, bringing on captain Mark Noble for Pedro Obiang and switching from a back three to 4-4-2.

“I thought Mark changed the game for us when he came on at half-time,” said Carroll.

“He kept the ball, dominated the midfield, defended well and brought everyone into the game.

“We know the quality in our dressing room and we’re confident we’re not going down. It is tough down there but we’re on a decent run at the moment and I hope it continues.”

Last night was the first time West Ham had come from behind to win a Premier League game at the London Stadium and Carroll said: “It’s great to do that. I thought we dominated the game in the second half, had a lot more possession and we could probably have scored a couple more.”

Moyes, who must now decide whether or not to continue with Carroll against Tottenham tomorrow night, was full of praise for his striker.

“They were two great goals, the first was a great centre-forward’s header and was as good as it gets while his second was from a tight angle,” he said. “There are games which will suit Andy better than others. I thought this one would suit him.”

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