Carroll: Wily Allardyce can outfox Mourinho
Allardyce believes January’s goalless draw at Stamford Bridge — when Mourinho accused the Hammers of playing “football from the 19th century” — was the turning point last season.
Since then West Ham have improved markedly to sit in fourth place at Christmas, their highest December 25 position in almost 30 years, ahead of Friday’s game at Chelsea.
“We can do anything,” Carroll said.
“He knows just as much as us how to beat managers.
“He knows what they are going to do against us. It’s just a game of chess, really, looking a move ahead.
“He’s not the same every week. He wants a win, but you’ve got to watch the teams, how they’re playing, how we’re going to break them down and win the game.
“He’s got loads of different ways of attacking, we’ve got loads of dimensions to go forward. That’s what our qualities are at the minute.”
The Hammers have one defeat in 11 games and Carroll attributes the transformation to Allardyce and changes in personnel.
“He’s brought in some great players,” added Carroll, who has scored three times on his return from injury.
“He’s changed the team around a lot and the players he’s brought in have settled in nicely.
“All the lads are buzzing at the minute, and it comes from that really: the manager’s choice of players and how he wants to play now.
“We’re playing great football, and I think any team we play is going to be worried about us.
“We’ve got more than one attacking option: play it on the floor, play it in the air, down the sides.
“There’s a belief. Everyone’s flying at the minute. Everyone’s looking forward to every game.
“Every week we’re thinking, oh there’s another three points, potentially.”
Mourinho, meanwhile, felt Eden Hazard gave a fine demonstration of both his flair and resilience in the 2-0 win at Stoke on Monday night.
Playmaker Hazard showed flashes of brilliance against the Potters, and it was his ball into the box in the 78th minute that set up Cesc Fabregas for the visitors’ second goal.
But along with the Belgium international’s creativity, Mourinho was also keen to praise the way Hazard — like the rest of the Chelsea side — handled the physical challenge Stoke posed at times.
The 23-year-old was on the receiving end of a painful-looking tackle early on from Phil Bardsley that earned the Potters defender a yellow card.
Hazard was able to carry on until departing the field in stoppage time, after being brought down by Jonathan Walters, with an apparent ankle problem.
Asked about Hazard still going on to influence the game after the bruising encounter with Bardsley, Mourinho said: “He did a lot and we need that.
“We played with (John Obi) Mikel and (Nemanja) Matic, so we lost one creative player.
“We had that stability in the team, and left to Hazard, Fabregas and Willian the responsibility to create, and they were not afraid to do that.
“They gave their bodies to the game and put themselves in every situation, and I think the kid (Hazard) was fantastic.”
Mourinho — whose side went 1-0 up in the second minute through John Terry’s header, and will spend Christmas three points clear of second-placed Manchester City as a result of the win — indicated he felt Bardsley should have been sent off for the challenge on Hazard.
But he also stressed the match had been a fairly fought one overall.
And Mourinho added: “If the tackle on him (Hazard) was a bad one, it was an isolated action.
“Then, after that, it was a difficult fight for the kid — but I think it was also a difficult match for Bardsley, because the kid is playing fantastically.”
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