Slaven Bilic: When I asked Andy Carroll if he was fit to play for West Ham, I said he must be ‘double honest’

Bilic (R) speaks with Carroll prior to the striker coming on against Liverpool
Arfa Griffiths/West Ham United via Getty Images
Slaven Bilic16 December 2016

There is no denying the importance of Wednesday’s win over Burnley. I thought we deserved it even though we suffered what I call the ‘cramp’ in the second half.

I know, though, that as we continue to move up the table, as I believe we will, our confidence will rise and that cramp will disappear.

I said to the players afterwards that I understand their feelings. “Remember,” I told them, “I did not play for Real Madrid, I played for West Ham also and we were sometimes in an even more difficult position than the one we were in before Wednesday night.”

Now we face another equally demanding game against Hull tomorrow. When I got home after the match I watched their game at Tottenham on TV. They lost 3-0 but they played much better than the score indicated.

As part of my job, I must look at the players carefully, listen to my staff and assess what condition the squad are in before I pick the team for tomorrow.

It was great, for example, to have Andy Carroll back after his long spell out through injury. I am always talking to him, asking him how he feels and he always says: “I am alright.”

I took him off towards the end but he still looked astonishingly fresh considering the time he has been out.

Most people know — no one more than himself — that Andy has had problems with injuries in recent years and the last thing we want is to set him back again.

In Pictures | West Ham vs Burnley | 14/12/2016

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There comes a time, when he is fit and looking good in training, when you just have to put him in, though. You could say it’s a bit like Forrest Gump and the chocolate box scene. You never know what you are going to get until you open it although, in Andy’s case, you do know you will always get impact and determination.

The problem is that, as a manager, you have to make a judgment, sometimes on risk. Against Burnley, he was doing well, looked fit, he wasn’t vanishing but, then again, I was thinking not so much about the game tomorrow but longer term because we don’t want to lose him again.

It is a dilemma because, if we keep him on too long and something happens, then what? It is not easy.

What is very important with Andy is communication. I told him the day before the Burnley game: “Listen, I know what you are going to tell me because you want to play. I know you are honest but please be double honest.” He responded well.

Andy will do very little training before tomorrow but that is the same with all the players who faced Burnley.

I know only too well how, with three games in a week, you can suddenly lose players. It happened during our League Cup quarter-final at Manchester United and then you think what was the point of beating Chelsea in the previous round?

As a result of the United match, we lost four players, were knocked out of the cup and it affected our preparation for the Arsenal match.

The game against Chelsea, although it was a great feeling and gave us confidence, cost us vital preparation for Everton, which is maybe why in the second half we went down a little.

Yet we all love the cups. They are our biggest chance and what could we do? You can’t play your strongest team against Chelsea and then, in the quarter-final at United, put out a weak line-up.

As for Andy, he never asks for special treatment. It is more the medical staff who come to me — maybe he tells them more than he tells me.

He is very strong mentally but we all know he has a history.

I can’t tell him, though, to curb his instincts and not challenge for every ball, even when maybe he is not the favourite to win it.

If he didn’t do that he wouldn’t be Andy Carroll. He would lose what makes him a special player.

I do tell him, though, if he hasn’t trained for some time, not to come back and charge around immediately. I think he understands that.

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