TERRY VENABLES
WEST HAM have always claimed they won the World Cup for England in 1966.
And now they may have improved our chances of reaching the 2014 finals as well.
The Hammers’ signing of Andy Carroll on a season-long loan is not only a great transfer for them.
It is also a great transfer for Liverpool and the striker himself.
Even more importantly, though, it is a great transfer for Roy Hodgson and his bid to lead England to Brazil in two years’ time.
The Three Lions boss clearly sees Carroll as part of his future plans, even if the new Liverpool manager does not.
I do not blame Brendan Rodgers for farming out the striker just weeks after arriving at Anfield and just 18 months after the Kop paid £35million to sign the frontman from Newcastle.
If only all managers were that brutally honest.
The game is all about opinions and, if a manager does not fancy a player, however expensive, he has the right to say so.
Yet at a time when there is not exactly a wealth of English strikers, the situation left Hodgson facing the dreaded prospect of one of his forwards being reduced to warming the Anfield bench and having only cameos in the Capital One Cup and Europa League to look forward to.
Hodgson was willing to overlook Carroll’s poor start to last season.
He showed it by naming him in England’s squad for this summer’s European Championships — and playing him.
He has also named the pony-tailed star in his 24-man squad for our opening two 2014 qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine this month, even though he has not started for Liverpool this season.
But how long could Hodgson have continued to keep picking Carroll while the player was not getting game time?
Not very long is the answer.
Thankfully, it is a dilemma both have been saved from thanks to West Ham’s swoop for Carroll on Thursday. The move is just what Carroll, Hodgson and England need right now.
Carroll knows Hammers boss Sam Allardyce and skipper Kevin Nolan well from his days at St James’ Park.
They will look after him. They will give him the encouragement he needs to rebuild his confidence, which was inevitably damaged at Liverpool.
Rather than warming the bench for the Merseysiders, now Carroll will at last be playing every week.
Not only that, he will be playing in a team whose style will probably be more suited to his than the Anfielders’.
If the goals come, Hodgson will continue to pick him for England — just as he has done for this month’s double-header in Chisinau and at Wembley.
Some have pointed out that in Carroll, Jermain Defoe, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck, Hodgson has four strikers who are not first-choice at their clubs.
That claim can no longer be aimed at Carroll, who will be assured of a starting berth at West Ham.
Defoe has also started both of Tottenham’s opening Premier League matches, while Welbeck at Manchester United and Chelsea’s Sturridge are becoming seasoned top-flight stars.
All eyes will be on manager Hodgson as The Three Lions start a new qualifying campaign under his reign.
He has selected a good squad for the next two vital matches but England have always had quality players to call on.
The challenge for the manager is to produce a winning team and formula that will get us to Brazil in a couple of years time.
Hodgson went mainly 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 at the Euros, where we reached the quarter-finals and, arguably, exceeded expectations given the coach’s late appointment to the job.
It will be interesting to see whether he has had enough time to expand or experiment with the in-vogue 4-2-3-1 or other formations.
One thing is for sure, though — Carroll playing every week at West Ham will help our cause.
