West Ham boss is dead wrong about star duo
West Ham need to score more goals
Slaven Bilic’s greatest challenge at West Ham is finding a way to get his club scoring enough goals to climb the Premier League table. Unfortunately for fans of the Hammers, their manager is dead wrong about the ability of Andy Carroll and Chicharito to function together as his primary strike force.
Bilic calls the idea of playing that duo together as his starting strikers “almost impossible.” Allegedly, he believes that playing the two as out-and-out strikers will prevent him from getting other talented players on the pitch. West Ham must have some players I’m not aware of.
The reality is that, when healthy, Carroll is arguably the club’s best player. He is perfectly suited to be the physical front man who Bilic wants to lead his line. There’s no way he should be on the bench and there’s nowhere for him to play other than centre forward. Carroll is a classic number nine that Bilic must deploy in that role.
Chicharito, on the other hand, is the club’s current leading goal scorer. He’s found the back of the net twice in West Ham’s five opening Premier League matches. He may not be the perfect striker to lead Bilic’s line on his own, but the presence of Carroll means he doesn’t have to do it all by himself.
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The solution here is painfully obvious. Carroll and Chicharito must start up top together for the foreseeable future. It’s West Ham’s best chance to score goals on a consistent basis. The difference skill sets of the two men make them a very intriguing combination.
Carroll can use his physical size and skill to occupy opposing central defenders. His presence on the pitch means West Ham always have an outlet for the ball. That should greatly simplify the responsibility for the club’s mediocre midfielders.
Chicharito is the perfect poacher to buzz around the pitch to take advantage of Carroll’s scraps. He can certainly find a few goals off of Carroll’s head nodding balls down, but more importantly, he can take advantage of space Carroll can open up. Chicharito can feast on opportunities in space created by defenders’ focus on fending Carroll off.
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I can only hope that Slaven Bilic is trying to play coy with the idea. It would be wise for him to downplay the notion before trying to spring it on Tottenham this weekend. Sadly for the West Ham faithful, I don’t have that kind of confidence in Bilic. I fear he’s just too close-minded to see the striking solution staring him in the face.