Carroll calls for fans to stay put
ANDY CARROLL has pointed the finger at West Ham supporters for deserting their team – and insists the Hammers are too good to go down.
Liverpool blew Slaven Bilic’s struggling side away with a brace from Mo Salah and further goals by Joel Matip and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
But Carroll was angry after thousands of home fans in the 56,961 crowd at the London Stadium walked out well before the end, with those who stayed booing the players off the pitch.
Carroll, whose side scored a consolation goal through Manuel Lanzini in the 55th minute, said: “They should be staying. They should be staying until the end. You never know what’s going to happen.
“They walked out at half-time against Tottenham when we were getting beat 2-0 and we turned it round to win.
“Crystal Palace fans did the same last week. Look what happened – they equalised in the 97th minute. Fans should stay until the end, regardless of the team.
“Would I like to see a bit more loyalty? One hundred per cent. Obviously, it frustrates you.
“You don’t think about it during the game. But when you see the game back and you see the fans leaving, that shouldn’t really be happening. They should be supporting us no matter what.
“We should be playing better. It’s us to blame – but they should be helping us out a bit.”
West Ham’s nine points after 11 games is two better than their total at the same stage in 2010-11, when they were relegated.
And Carroll is backing the team to avoid the drop, saying: “We’ve got a good enough dressing room to turn it around. Everyone knows that. We’re not concerned about going down at all.
“We’ve got great quality. Fantastic quality. I’ve no doubt that we’ll stay up this season. Everyone in the dressing room thinks the same.
“There are worse teams in the league than us to go down. We’re fine. We’ve got a fantastic team. It’s a switch. We’ve just got to change something and that’s it.”
As woeful as West Ham were, Liverpool were ruthless and deadly, and capitalised on every awful mistake to turn the screw on their opponents.
No one was more effective than Salah, who now has seven league goals and two assists since his £44 million switch from Roma.
But Salah’s team-mate Sadio Mane believes the Egyptian has only just started terrorising defences. He said: “He is a fantastic signing. Everyone is happy to get him in the team.
“We are trying to help him score more goals and I am sure he will do it.
“I always enjoy playing with these players. We look forward to playing more games together and playing some good games.”
Salah flopped at Chelsea, who loaned him out to Fiorentina and Roma before selling him to the latter in 2016, but their loss has been Liverpool’s gain. Mane said: “I don’t know what happened at Chelsea but more importantly, we have him.”
Senegal star Mane had two assists on his return from a hamstring injury and says he is now back to full fitness.
He said: “I am feeling 100 per cent, which is why I played. There is no excuse for me. I was injured but I was always working hard.” WEST HAM (5-3-2): Hart 5; Fernandes 4 (Carroll 45, 6), Kouyate 6, Reid 5, Ogbonna 6, Cresswell 6; Obiang 5, Noble 5 (Arnautovic 61, 5), Lanzini 5; Ayew 6, Hernandez 5 (Sakho 72). Booked: Reid, Noble, Lanzini. Goal: Lanzini 55. NEXT UP: Watford (a), Nov 19 PL. LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1): Mignolet 6; Gomez 6, Matip 6, Klavan 6, Moreno 6; Wijnaldum 6, Can 6; Oxlade-Chamberlain 7 (Lovren 87), Salah 8, Mane 7 (Milner 77); Firmino 6 (Solanke 87). Goals: Salah 21, 75, Matip 24, Oxlade-Chamberlain 56. NEXT UP: Southampton (h), Nov 18 PL.
Referee: M Atkinson (West Yorkshire).