TARGET MAN
Moyes: Carroll is picked on by refs
DAVID MOYES insists he will stand by Andy Carroll as West Ham host Leicester this evening and warned oldfashioned target men may be better suited to basketball if referees continue to clamp down on Carroll’s physicality.
Moyes (below) was forced to substitute Carroll in the 65th minute of the 2-0 defeat at Watford on Sunday with the striker on a yellow card.
Carroll has been booked on four of his last six appearances and he was sent off for an elbow on Burnley’s Ben Mee last month.
On Sunday, he landed a blow inside six seconds on Watford’s Marvin Zeegelaar, although he escaped sanction. Carroll was, however, subsequently booked and also received a final warning from referee Andre Marriner before half-time.
Moyes defended his front man by highlighting instances where Carroll himself was the recipient of robust challenges.
‘In the 27th minute when he was booked, he was scythed by two people,’ said Moyes. ‘So if that had been anyone else out there from outside this country then they would have gone down and taken a free-kick. Andy didn’t.
‘We are a country who want to rule out simulation which is 100 per cent correct. He stays up and is hit by two people and he gets zero protection. ‘Are you telling me Andy Gray, Joe Jordan, Duncan Ferguson jumped without using their hands for leverage? Anyone who says that has never played the game. I’m telling you, you can only jump with your arms for leverage. ‘It is my specialist subject... I was a centre half so I needed to use my arms for protection. If we are now saying you can’t use your arms for leverage, that isn’t in the rules of football. ‘From minute one every time Andy Carroll plays... is everyone going to say, “That’s a foul by Andy Carroll”? If we do, we’ve got to say now that if you’re 6ft 4in, you better go to basketball and stop being a centre forward.’
Carroll is set to start for West Ham tonight in Moyes’ first home game as the club seek to rise out of the relegation zone.
Marko Arnautovic has recovered from a swollen thumb and Andre Ayew returns from illness. Javier Hernandez and Michail Antonio remain injured.
Meanwhile, Leicester will explore the possibility of signing former Newcastle ace Hatem Ben Arfa in January.
Manager Claude Puel is a fan of the winger from their time together at Nice and thinks a loan deal could be struck with Paris Saint-Germain.