Manuel Pellegrini has been brought to West Ham to engineer the attacking football that was so sorely lacking under Sam Allardyce and David Moyes and far too fleeting under Slaven Bilic.
The exciting final season at Upton Park was more fired by an inspired Dimitri Payet than as a direct consequence of Bilic’s philosophy, but Pellegrini has been brought in to change all that.
The Hammers were supposed to be attractive, ambitious football club upon their move to the London Stadium. Pellegrini has been brought in to belatedly kick off that new era, and many fans will surely be excited to see it.
However, one man is surely set to suffer majorly as a result – Andy Carroll. There is little doubt that the Geordie can be one of the best in the world at what he does; battering defenders, winning headers and getting on the end of crosses.
That said, he just cannot be relied upon, injury-wise. The arrival of Chicharito last summer was surely an attempt by Bilic to provide himself with a striking alternative that isn’t just waiting for the big number nine to finally be fit.
Now, Pellegrini is introducing the fast, attacking football that won Manchester City the Premier League in 2013/14 in east London and Carroll must surely be left behind.
No club with genuine European ambitions can be relying on an injury-prone target man as their primary plan of attack. In any case, the options that Pellegrini has assembled this summer should prove far more potent than crossing the ball into Carroll would in any case.
There is an argument for keeping him as a Plan B, but abandoning the short passing style and lumping it into the mixer when a goal is needed would surely do more harm than good.
It has happened suddenly, but Carroll is so far out of step with what Pellegrini is trying to that he must be cut loose. If he can provide funds for a new centre-forward before the transfer window slams shut, then all the better.
However he eventually departs, surely Andy Carroll’s days at West Ham are numbered.
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