Diafra Sakho has been one of the standout performers this season. Plucked from the Ligue 2 champions Metz after scoring 20 goals in 36 games for the French side, Sakho was still relatively unknown in the world of football. Now, he is being noticed everywhere.
The manager of the French National side, Didier Deschamps, apparently even considered trying to convince Sakho to change nationalities and represent France rather than Senegal. Since then, however, Sakho has been selected for competitive games for Senegal.
When he originally signed for West Ham, Sakho was regarded as potentially being a useful substitute and squad player. Now, he is a fans’ favourite and integral to the team. Since his debut at Palace and his first goal against Sheffield United in the league cup, Sakho has gone from strength to strength and impressed continually. Breaking a club record of goals in consecutive starts, everyone in the Premier League and around the world started to take notice.
But it’s not just goals that Sakho brings to the side. His movement on and off the ball creates space for himself and others, making attacking play much simpler. One of the most successful aspects of his movement, is how well Sakho has linked up with strike partner Enner Valencia. In the first half of the season it was the two of them that spearheaded the attacking force for West Ham, scoring and creating goals. The main reason for this in my opinion was the fact that both of them unselfishly move off the ball consistently. They spread wide pulling the full backs right out onto the wings and make runs in behind and across the oppositions defensive lines, pulling the centre backs out of position. By doing this, the two of them also create extra space for Downing to exploit. It’s no coincidence to me that Downing’s rejuvenation in form, in his new position, has come at the same time as this new strike partnership. When it is either Sakho or Valencia partnering Carroll up front, this is lost. It’s much easier for defenders to track the movement of one player, rather than two making runs in opposite directions.
Without Sakho, however, the goals have still been flowing. At first it looked as though the combination of Carroll and Valencia was not working at all. Now it is starting to flourish and West Ham are reaping the rewards. A few weeks ago it seemed as though Sakho would be missed a lot, but thankfully now it doesn’t seem as bad being without him. When he is back, however, it is very useful to have a combination of Sakho, Carroll and Valencia. I just hope that Allardyce uses them wisely in the right combinations against the right opposition. Some teams it may be better to attack with pace in Sakho and Valencia, other times Carroll will be the main attacking threat with one of the other two feeding off him. Not exploiting these two differing styles of play when they are needed, will make us remain one dimensional. That is something I pray we can avoid.
