Andy Carroll has admitted he was ‘just falling apart’ at West Ham United and hit rock bottom during his time at the club.
The striker has been speaking to Foot Mercato about his career and life at Bordeaux in the French fourth division.
The 35-year-old joined the French side on a free transfer on the summer after a season at Amiens.
He’s joined Bordeaux at a turbulent time in their history after they were relegated down the divisions following administration, and had their professional status removed.
Carroll showed no hesitation in making the move, though, and has seemingly been loving life there so far despite playing at the lowest level of a career that’s seen him play for Newcastle, Liverpool and West Ham in the Premier League.
He joined West Ham on loan from Liverpool just a year after a €41m move to Anfield and made the deal permanent in 2013 for €17.5m.
His time in London was not a happy one, though, managing just 34 goals and 16 assists in 142 games for the club and largely being considered a flop.
That was largely due to injuries but also problems personally for the player, which ultimately effected his performances. He’s now looked back on that time and admits it was a difficult one.
“It was a stressful time for me. I was at rock bottom, everything was dark,” he said.
“It was hard to get back up. I was just falling apart and making bad decisions, bad treatment and bad things. It was just very difficult. You know, as a player, you just want to be on the pitch and play.
“But sometimes you hear stories, people saying “oh, he’s always injured”, “he should retire” and things like that which are not nice. At that point, you’re in a hole, in your shell and you’re just trying to get out of it, because it can be dangerous.
“Luckily, I managed to get out of it, and I had a more positive ending. So now I just love playing football.”
