West Ham should drop Andy Carroll following his red card against Burnley on Saturday, and replace him with Javier Hernandez.

That’s the views of Sky Sports pundit Tony Gale, who believes Hernandez’s drop in form is down to him being played out of position.

The Hammers looked in good shape against Burnley over the weekend and were 1-0 up before Andy Carroll got his marching orders for receiving two bookings in under two minutes – something Gale branded as ‘stupid’ from the forward.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw, much to the disappointment of all involved at West Ham as it was a game they could so easily have wrapped up if they had 11 men on the field. And Gale believes that Carroll should be dropped for good while Hernandez gets a chance to show what he can do playing in his favoured position.

“It was a stupid challenge,” Gale told Premier League Daily. “It’s a shame for him because he’s just getting back to fitness. He needs six games to get back to fitness, then bang he does that – he’s out.”

“All of a sudden West Ham might change the way they play, Hernandez goes up front, [Diafra] Sakho goes up front, he may not get back in the team.”

Asked about why Hernandez has struggled so far for West Ham, Gale said: “He’s playing out of position, simple.”

“At Southampton he got two opportunist’s goals in the six-yard area. That’s where he’s got to be because he sniffs out a chance like nobody in the Premier League.”

“If you’re looking at Hernandez up front, [Marko] Arnautovic one side, [Michail] Antonio the other and [Manuel] Lanzini in behind, you’re looking at a lot of creativity there and maybe West Ham getting the performance they’ve been edging towards.”
[Quotes via Sky Sports]