West Ham United captain Mark Noble has suggested that he feels sorry for teammate Andy Carroll after some of the horrible comments he has seen about him.
He says that it is hard for him to see the 30-year-old so plagued by injury when all he wants to do is train, play and do his best for the Hammers on a regular basis.
Noble adds that the centre-forward always puts in the maximum amount of effort in on the rare occasion where he is not sidelined, and suggested that he feels sympathy towards his teammate due to the fact his body has not allowed him to cope with playing regularly.
“I count myself fortunate not to have missed too many matches but one West Ham team-mate who has been plagued by injuries is Andy Carroll,” he wrote in his Evening Standard column.
“It’s a real difficult one for me because it’s so hard to see a player who, every day, wants to train, to play and do his best, for the club and himself, but who has been stopped from doing that by a succession of injuries.
“The thing about Andy is that when he plays, he gives it 100 per cent but, if he is not fully fit, he can put himself in danger. It’s horrible when I see some of the comments about him.
“It’s not his fault he is injured. He’s such a big lad and his body just hasn’t allowed him to cope with the demands of playing regularly and that has severely limited his playing time.”
OPINION
After seeing Noble’s honest opinion on Carroll here, it is hard not to feel sorry for him in some respects. He is right – his body has not allowed him to cope with the demands of playing regular football, which is a shame. When he is given the right service, he can be a real danger to defenders in the box, but unfortunately for him, he has not been given the chance to showcase that much this season due to being ravaged by injuries once again. You cannot blame the fans for making comments about him, as they are no doubt frustrated that Carroll has not been able to make the impact they expected he would make. That being said though, after Noble pointed out that all the former Liverpool man wants to do is train and do his best, you do feel sympathy towards him. However, his ongoing problems show that he is just not cut out for the Premier League.
