Carroll out to net new contract
Andy Carroll is desperate to get on Manuel Pellegrini’s attacking bandwagon and earn himself a new contract. The former England striker has clocked up just 71 minutes so far under the Chilean and will be a free agent at the and of the season, although the Hammers do have a two-year option to extend.
So much has happened at the London Stadium since Carroll was last selected to start a West Ham game, back on Jan 2 when he scored both goals in a 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion.
Pellegrini’s summer appointment heralded the arrival of £100 million worth of new faces, including a goalkeeper and central defensive pairing, plus, in Felipe Anderson, the playmaker on a superb run of form and the scorer of a wonderful long-range strike that ensured Crystal Palace went home empty-handed. This victory, thanks to further goals from Robert Snodgrass and Javier Hernandez, was the Hammers’ third in a row and took them to 11th place, making the false start of four successive defeats at the opening of the campaign seem like ancient history.
Carroll, who missed the first four months of the season because of an ankle problem, marvelled at the club’s change of fortunes. “The manager is very attacking and there are goals in the team,” he said.
“The two centre-halves we have signed, the goalkeeper, all the way through, I think it is fantastic the team that we have got. The attacking strength is unbelievable. We have got versatility and an all-round balanced team.”
Pellegrini handed Lucas Perez, another summer signing, a first Premier League start for his new club but the Hammers, trailing at half-time to James Mcarthur’s goal, were much better when Carroll replaced the Spaniard up front after the break. Snodgrass netted his first Hammers goal in the league to make it 1-1. Hernandez then put West Ham ahead after Wayne Hennessey had parried an Anderson free-kick, the Brazilian scoring with a sublime curling effort.
Carroll knows he has a fight on his hands to get in the team even though Marko Arnautovic, first choice up front, is out for a month with a hamstring injury. But this he must do because £90,000 a week is a lot of money for an impact substitute with a long history of injuries.
“My heart is here, my head is here,” he said. “It is an easy place for me to stay. I just need to get myself fully fit. As soon as I can, hopefully I can get into the starting line-up, stay there and earn the new deal.”
Palace pulled a goal back through substitute Jeffrey Schlupp but the final 15 minutes saw them add only bookings for Wilfried Zaha and James Tomkins, who will be suspended against Leicester on Saturday as a result. Defeat in that, plus wins for Huddersfield and Burnley, will mean Roy Hodgson’s side drop into the relegation places.
“It will be even harder because we will be missing two very important players,” said Luca Milivojevic, the captain. “To pick up two yellow cards in the last minutes was something we didn’t have to do.” The man known affectionately as the “Alpine Klopp”, Ralph Hasenhuttl, has a mountain of issues to solve if he is to resurrect Southampton and keep them in the Premier League. His reign began with a selfinflicted 1-0 defeat in South Wales as one of the country’s most experienced managers, Neil Warnock, taught the newest plenty of lessons about the squad of players he inherited last Thursday.
Callum Paterson’s poacher’s finish clinched victory to leave the Saints five points behind Cardiff in 19th. Perhaps the first issue to address is Southampton’s defence. Jannik Vestergaard’s botched backpass allowed Paterson, the home side’s makeshift striker, to beat Alex Mccarthy and seal victory, but it should not distract from the defensive issues elsewhere.
Hasenhuttl brought Jan Bednarek into the starting XI for the first time since September alongside Yan Valery, who had a torrid time at right-back against Josh Murphy’s trickery.
Valery was hauled off at half-time after being booked early and replaced by Jack Stephens in the absence of the injured Cedric Soares. It is imperative for Hasenhuttl to find his preferred back four and stick with them until January, when he can raid the transfer market.
Southampton need to work harder, too. Hasenhuttl’s RB Leipzig side employed a high-octane pressing style and he promised to imprint that philosophy on his new club, who are suffering their worst run of form since 1998.
Saints did at least show signs of buying into his methods as they opened each half with an onslaught of pressure that could have led to them scoring. Left-back Matt Targett said: “He is going to ask a lot from each position. It will be a journey, but a journey that we have to stick together and buy into. He is very intense and he demands a lot.”