The West Ham United striker made his first start in a year last night.
West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini spoke to reporters after his side’s 2-2 draw with Brighton last night, and explained how Andy Carroll cannot play more than 45 minutes at this moment in time, as quoted by Football.London.
The Hammers came back from two goals down to draw with the Seagulls at the London Stadium yesterday, and it was a game where everything happened in the second-half.
Carroll wasn’t really effective at all during the first-half, and West Ham failed to carve out a single opening of any note.
Pellegrini reacted by bringing Lucas Perez on for the 29-year-old at half-time, and many Hammers fans questioned the Chilean’s decision at the time.
The West Ham boss explained to reporters how Carroll is not yet at a stage where he can play more than one half of football, however, as quoted by Football.London:
“At this moment, Andy is not able to play more than 45 minutes. The other games he was a substitute and played 35, 30 minutes. It is good for him to start. We tried to find him too many times with high balls and they have two tall centre backs who we tried to attack in another way with Lucas Perez and that’s why he didn’t continue. But that 45 minutes in this moment is good for him.”
Pellegrini’s comments on Carroll seem to be rather damning with regards to the striker’s fitness.
The 6ft 4in hitman has, after all, been back in a action since December 4th, and he should surely be able to play at least 60-70 minutes now.
Carroll’s contract expires in the summer, and unless he proves himself over the next few months, West Ham surely wont be offering him a new deal.
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