Will Andy Carroll ever overcome injury problems?

West Ham striker Andy Carroll is set to endure yet another spell on the sidelines through injury

West Ham have been handed an injury blow ahead of the new season with England striker Andy Carroll reportedly ruled out of action for up to four months with an ankle ligament injury.

The 25-year-old injured his ankle in a training session while taking part in the Irons pre-season tour of New Zealand.

The striker will undergo surgery on Friday in an effort to get the problem sorted out, which will mean he will miss the start of the new campaign.

Devastated

Carroll revealed his feeling tweeting: “Going under the knife tomorrow morning and absolutely devastated to be missing the start of the season,”

It is yet another injury problem in a long line of problems that have crippled Carroll’s chances of fulfilling his supposed potential.

Potential

Carroll displayed tremendous potential in his days at Newcastle. His performances for the Magpies showed a striker of great physical presence and aerial ability. He was almost a throw-back to the old-fashioned swashbuckling English striker.

He impressed enough at St James Park to earn him a big £35million move to Liverpool. However, he struggled to adapt to life with the Reds and never seemed able to find his best form at Anfield.

The Geordie striker showed flashes of his ability on Merseyside, but never lived-up to his price tag and left the Reds as a flop. He then moved to West Ham on-loan, where he made 22 starts in yet another injury-hit campaign.

He hit a respectable seven goals in that period and also produced four assists. His move to the Boleyn Ground was made permanent for a fee of £15million last summer. Carroll made just 12 starts last season for the Hammers, scoring twice and getting four assists.

Injuries

Andy Carroll’s career development has been ravaged by injury problems. Throughout his career Carroll has been plagued with injury. The striker’s most consistent run of games in one season came in the Championship when he made 39 appearances.

Carroll made 35 appearances for Liverpool, scoring four goals. However, 14 of those appearances came from the substitute’s bench. The lack of regular first team starts at Liverpool led to the move to West Ham.

Maybe the striker thought a move to the Boleyn Ground would provide a solution to his injury problems, it really has not. In fact he has basically endured two seasons of frustration with the Hammers.

Different

It is a real shame that Carroll has endured such bad luck with injuries in recent seasons, because he is a different player to any other striker in the Premier League. There are very few strikers who can offer the same physical threat as the striker.

England could have certainly done with his talents at the World Cup, as Andy Carroll in top form is an excellent plan b for any team to have. On his day he can be difficult for any centre-back to handle, unfortunately he has not had many of those days recently because of numerous injuries.

Lifestyle

Questions have been asked about Andy Carroll’s lifestyle off the pitch, which have not made the striker’s absence from the team any easier. A healthy lifestyle usually leads to a healthy mind, body and soul.

However, a healthy lifestyle cannot always prevent you from sustaining injuries. A healthy lifestyle can maintain your fitness, but it cannot stop a player picking up the injuries that have plagued Carroll’s career.

Backup

Luckily for West Ham they have signed attacking players this summer in the form of Argentinian Mauro Zarate and Ecuador international Enner Valencia is also believed to be close to tying up a deal to join the Hammers.

Without Carroll the Hammers did look slightly toothless in attack last season and the two new strikers appear to be good signings. Hopefully Carroll’s absence will not be felt too heavily at the start of the season.

Wasted

There is a long list of English footballers who did not fulfil their potential because of injury. From Darren Anderton to Kieran Dyer, so much English talent has been wasted because the players cannot stay fit and healthy.

Andy Carroll’s injury problems show no sign of abating and the big striker could join that list of English players who have failed to fulfil their potential, which would be a crying shame for a unique player in the modern game.

Will Andy Carroll ever overcome injury problems?