According to Sky Sports, West Ham’s injury-prone former England stars Andy Carroll and Jack Wilshere could return to the Hammers squad for their home game against Manchester City this weekend.
The pair are two of the most famous for being injury-prone in the Premier League era. I am surprised the Irons have not taken on extra medical staff just to deal with the duo.
Promising careers wrecked by injuries
When both players were younger they appeared to have glittering futures ahead of them in the beautiful game. Such was Carroll’s potential that Liverpool paid Newcastle a then-massive fee of £30million to sign the striker.
However, poor form and fitness problems plagued his career on Merseyside and eventually joined West Ham on a permanent basis after impressing on a loan spell. Unfortunately, the striker has struggled with niggling injuries and fitness problems in his five and a bit years with the Hammers.
Wilshere was once regarded as the saviour of the England and Arsenal midfield. The midfielder broke into the Gunners first-team at just 16 and impressed for the north London team with his drive and enthusiasm.
Like Carroll, his career has completely stalled. For the last decade he has failed to live up to expectations and Arsenal finally gave up on the midfielder in the summer allowing him to leave as a free agent.
West Ham took a gamble in signing pair
On their day, both players can be a joy to watch and a big asset to their team. Carroll is a throwback to the old-fashioned English centre-forward, who dominates aerial battles in both penalty areas.
When on form, he is one of the most difficult forwards in the world to manage for defenders. Every defender that plays against Carroll knows they have been in a game afterwards. If he had avoided injury problems, then he could have fulfilled some of his potential.
Wilshere is a skilful midfielder, who has the ability to grab games by the scruff of the neck. However, on too many occasions for Arsenal, he flattered to deceive. At times, he looked like he was trying too hard to impress and trying to make up for lost time.
West Ham obviously took the pair on because they believe they have talent. Signing the pair was always a gamble though, as everybody knew their propensity for picking up injuries and fitness problems.
If the Hammers can somehow find a way to get the pair injury-free and fully fit, then they could have two very good players on their hands. However, the pair’s previous clubs have failed to keep them injury-free, so the Irons have a job on their hands.
West Ham needs all the help they can get against City
I suppose it is good news that the pair could feature in Saturday’s game, as the Hammers are big underdogs to beat City at odds of 12/1.
The team from east London need all the help they can get against Pep Guardiola’s team, as the Hammers have won just once in their last six outings, while the Citizens are on a run of seven straight wins in all competitions.
The return to fitness of Carroll and Wilshere may not help Manuel Pellegrini’s team this weekend. However, it may well aid the Londoners in the near future, if, and that is a big if the pair can stay fit for more than five minutes this time around.
Can Andy Carroll and Jack Wilshere turn things around at West Ham?
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