West Ham United’s Andy Carroll was sent off against Burnley on Saturday.
Pundit Tony Gale has told Sky Sports that he thinks Andy Carroll faces a challenge getting back into the West Ham United side after being sent off against Burnley.
The Hammers travelled to Lancashire on Saturday afternoon in search of three points, and took the lead at Turf Moor thanks to Michail Antonio’s opener.
However, Andy Carroll was then sent off for two quick bookings, with both given after the giant striker led with his elbow in successive aerial challenges.
Ultimately, West Ham were made to pay for that red card, as Burnley scored a late equaliser thanks to Chris Wood’s finish from a Johann Berg Gudmundsson cross.
West Ham were left disappointed at the final whistle having led the game for so long, and manager Slaven Bilic was particularly frustrated after seeing Carroll pick up that red card.
The striker has been struggling with injuries throughout his time with West Ham, but just as he has been starting to play regularly again, he has picked up a stupid red card which will see him miss Friday’s game with Brighton.
Ahead of that game, pundit Tony Gale has told Sky Sports that he thinks it’s a shame for Carroll to be missing, but he was stupid to make the challenges, and with Javier Hernandez in line to start up front and Diafra Sakho knocking on the door, Carroll may struggle to get back in the side.
Gale added his defence of summer signing Hernandez, suggesting that he hasn’t impressed of late due to playing out of position, whilst he wants to see Bilic play Marko Arnautovic, Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio behind Hernandez in an exciting line-up.
“It was a stupid challenge,” said Gale. “It’s a shame for him because he’s just getting back to fitness. He needs six games to get back to fitness, then bang he does that – he’s out. All of a sudden West Ham might change the way they play, Hernandez goes up front, [Diafra] Sakho goes up front, he may not get back in the team.”
“He’s playing out of position, simple,” he added when asked about Hernandez. “At Southampton he got two opportunist’s goals in the six-yard area. That’s where he’s got to be because he sniffs out a chance like nobody in the Premier League. If you’re looking at Hernandez up front, [Marko] Arnautovic one side, [Michail] Antonio the other and [Manuel] Lanzini in behind, you’re looking at a lot of creativity there and maybe West Ham getting the performance they’ve been edging towards,” he added.
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