Sam Allardyce believes his West Ham United team can exploit Arsenal’s defence and inflict a first defeat on them at Upton Park in more than eight years to strengthen his own team’s pursuit of European qualification.
Arsenal’s Boxing Day victory over Queens Park Rangers moved them to within a point of West Ham before Sunday’s derby, though Allardyce is convinced his own players’ momentum will not be checked by their loss at Chelsea. He has overseen six wins from his side’s last seven unbeaten home league games and, with Alex Song – against his former club – and Diafra Sakho set to start having initially been rested at Stamford Bridge, Arsène Wenger’s team could endure a torrid afternoon at Upton Park.
“We have to bounce back from the Chelsea loss and I am relying on the home form that we have shown over the last seven games to be there in abundance,” said Allardyce. “The last seven home games have been six wins and one draw, so it shows the type of form we are in at Upton Park. We have turned it into a real fortress again and I hope that is going to be the case against Arsenal.
“You have to get at them. You have to get at them the right way and play the right way against Arsenal to make sure you can try to get sometimes at the defence, which can be suspect at times.
“But you have to be good enough on the ball to get at those areas. If you can do that maybe you can catch them out. Results-wise they have done very well against us at home, but performance-wise we have always been right in the game, only to fail to get anything from the games because of the quality Arsenal have shown.
“This time around we have a better squad, a better strength in depth, and more confidence. We’ve beaten Liverpool and Manchester City at our place. Hopefully that will give us the confidence to do the same to them.”Allardyce and Wenger have endured a fractious relationship on the touchline over the years, though there is respect from the West Ham manager at the Frenchman’s achievements, particularly in building teams to compete while paying off the debt accrued in the construction of the Emirates stadium. West Ham will take up residence in a new home themselves in the Olympic Stadium at the end of next season.
“The fact we don’t have to pay £450m for our new stadium is the best bit of business ever done in football by a set of owners,” said Allardyce, whose contract expires at the end of the current campaign. “I don’t think there is any bit of business that has ever been as good as what David Gold and David Sullivan have done acquiring the Olympic Stadium.
“So what you have to do in football terms is use the money saved on that development on the team to strengthen it so that, when the club gets there, we can be in a position where hopefully it is not concerned with its Premier League status.
“As for my own future, I don’t have a problem. That will all be decided if and when the owners decide they are ready. It is not about me trying to push one way or the other. I’ll be ready to talk to them when they decide and we will see where we go from there.
“Wenger has been manager, accounting and financial director, there’s no doubt about that. The man set out a fantastic team before they decided to move and then built a couple of brilliant young teams despite the fact the same amount of finance didn’t appear to be available to him.
“Now he has almost got the Emirates paid off, hasn’t he? That’s his achievement and it is a massive factor considering it was a huge investment for them. But I don’t think he lives on that [credit]. I think Wenger believes he can win every trophy he plays in, he can win the league with the team he has got.”
