Former West Ham striker Benni McCarthy admits he let himself go while he was at the club.
South African frontman let his standards slip while with Hammers
Former West Ham striker Benni McCarthy admits he let himself go while he was at the club.
The 33-year-old striker departed the East London outfit by mutual consent earlier in the month after just one year at Upton Park, having been left out of the Hammers' 25-man Premier League squad for the second half of the season.
South Africa international McCarthy failed to score in 14 appearances for West Ham after joining from Blackburn at the end of last year's winter transfer window.
He claims he lost motivation and let things slip because of injuries before the termination of his contract.
"I let it slip, I could have been better towards myself," he told
Sky Sports News.
"I let myself down. I just went hiding under a rock because I couldn't deal with the fact I was injured.
"I never trained how I could train because obviously I was out for two months (with a calf injury) so I wasn't allowed to train or anything - it was just treatment, treatment, treatment."
On why he opted to leave the club, McCarthy added: "It was a situation where I was there but I wasn't really there. I was getting paid for doing nothing - that's not my style."
Meanwhile, the former Ajax, Celta Vigo and Porto man claims he cannot remember the last time he spoke to West Ham manager Avram Grant.
McCarthy added: "I don't really know when I last spoke to him - but he's got a lot on his plate at the moment.
"I'm sure he could help his position if he'd maybe take a little bit more time to speak to players more. That's what you do if you are a manager and you have a good relationship with players, you get results.
"But I'm not the type of person to go to a manager and give them ultimatums - they make decisions on what they see in training."
He continued: "The club's been fantastic to me - you can't ask for better treatment from the medical staff, it has been brilliant.
"He's a nice guy, he's got his own personality. Who am I to say he is a bad man-to-man manager?
"He's got more things to worry about than wishing me the best of luck."
