Sam Allardyce said that it had been an either/or choice in the summer of 2013. Either he brought Andy Carroll to West Ham United on a permanent transfer from Liverpool or he signed Wilfried Bony from Vitesse Arnhem. He chose the former and Swansea City took Bony.
As Allardyce prepares to welcome Bony and Swansea to Upton Park on Sunday, for a meeting of the teams fifth and seventh in the Premier League at the start of the weekend, a jury might still debate the wisdom of the decision.
No striker has scored more goals in England’s top division than Bony in this calendar year while his return of 31 from 64 appearances for Swansea in all competitions has come to make his £12m fee look like value. Carroll, by contrast, has barely played for West Ham since his permanent move because of injury and, when he has, he has managed just two goals in 20 matches.
West Ham had made an inquiry to Vitesse about Bony but the price was not right for them. Allardyce instead paid £15m to Liverpool for Carroll, who had impressed while on loan at Upton Park in 2012-13, when he scored seven goals in 24 games. Allardyce continues to feel that Carroll will end up proving to be the better buy when he can enjoy consistent fitness, although he pretty much has to say that.
Yet Allardyce’s willingness to raise a subject that could invite derogatory comments spoke volumes about his confidence and, by extension, that of everyone at his club. It is not difficult to imagine the reaction among West Ham fans at almost any point last season to the revelation that Allardyce had preferred Carroll to Bony, but the climate is different now.
Allardyce and the players are enjoying themselves, and so are the supporters, which is not a line that could have been written during the previous campaign. West Ham have won six and drawn two of their last 10 fixtures and, in the victories over Liverpool and Manchester City, the performances represented lofty benchmarks.
After the home win over Newcastle United last Saturday and the midweek victory at West Bromwich Albion, against Swansea Allardyce could give his players the target of completing a hat-trick in the space of nine days and talk with excitement about what that kind of sequence could do for a club’s season.
Carroll is back and building up towards peak fitness, after his late cameo as a substitute in the draw against Aston Villa before the November international break and three successive starts since then – which represents his first football of the campaign – but what has fired Allardyce is the range of his options, particularly up front.
With Carroll, Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia, Mauro Zárate and Carlton Cole, Allardyce says that the choices are “better than we’ve ever had” and there is no dependence of any one of them. The load has been shared and the threat has come from all over the field. James Tomkins, a centre-half, scored the winner at West Brom while Aaron Cresswell, a left-back, got the only goal against Newcastle. The club’s last nine goals have been scored by different players.
Allardyce feels that the Christmas period will provide the acid test of West Ham’s credentials – they go to Chelsea on Boxing Day and entertain Arsenal two days after that – but, in the meantime, he wants to generate further momentum.
“The next 14 games will have to be as good as the first 14 because anything less won’t keep us in our position,” Allardyce said. “We might even have to get better. Let’s not slack off and get complacent. Let’s continue what we have done up until now.”
Allardyce is wary of Bony and he has told his players to cut the supply lines to him. He talked of the Ivorian’s aerial threat and skill, plus how hard it was to knock him off the ball. “He seems to be able to roll defenders and hit the ball in the same movement,” he added.
Allardyce was not permitted the luxury of hindsight and he suggested that his choice between Carroll and Bony was based on the former’s proven Premier League pedigree.
“There is always a risk with any player that comes from abroad,” Allardyce said. “The risk is always greater. We signed Andy. It was one or the other. We couldn’t do both. We didn’t have enough money in the budget that year. Of course, it’s paid off handsomely for Swansea. Bony has been an outstanding success.”
