Tom Roddy has been speaking on the latest edition of The Times’ The Game Football Podcast, and he has been talking about Andy Carroll.
One of the topics that came up while Roddy was talking about Carroll was his flying elbows.
The 31-year-old started for the Toon in their opening Premier League game of the season against West Ham United and instantly made his impact known as he clattered Tomas Soucek and left the 25-year-old rolling around on the floor.
Carroll got away with it and went on to have a superb game that saw him win 12 aerial duels.
This led Roddy to discuss the impact that Carroll and his elbows had on the game.
It seems as if Roddy was not shocked to see Carroll have so many free headers because his challenge on Soucek had scared the West Ham players and that the way he jumps generates height – but is also dangerous.
He said: “The amount of times Carroll dropped into midfield and had a free header completely unchallenged really wasn’t surprising, because Soucek was left sort of writhing around on the floor after meeting the sharp end of Carroll’s elbow.
“You could tell no one else really wanted to go up with him after that.
“He’s done it before, I think last season he did the same with Ben Mee against Burnley, same happened with Scott McTominay.
“It kind of reminds you a little bit of Marouane Fellaini, that kind of height that he has jumping up and leading with the elbow; it’s natural in a way to try and generate more height, but it’s just so dangerous.”
Should Carroll have been sent off against West Ham?
No, there was no intent
Yes, it was dangerous
TIF Thoughts…
Carroll smashed into Soucek right at the start of the game but instead of receiving a red card Carroll got away with it and turned in a fine performance.
However, on another day, maybe he might have been sent off, and the fact that he did it last season on a few occasions could be something to concern Newcastle fans if he is sent off on another occasion.
Despite this, though, if he keeps playing as he did in that opening game, we don’t think many Toon fans will be bothered about Carroll’s wayward elbows.