Unless you’ve never read an Alou Diarra interview, you will know the West Ham midfielder and Sam Allardyce aren’t the best of friends.
Bought by the Hammers in 2012 from Marseille, the now 35-year-old is currently playing for Dijon in Ligue 1 after a season and a half with Charlton, but he hasn’t forgotten his Premier League experience.
Speaking to France Football about his return to French football, the defensive midfielder was also asked about his time at West Ham under the ex-England manager, and explained how the move came about.
Revealing he ‘never met the manager’ before signing for West Ham, Alou Diarra then discussed his relationship with Allardyce.
He said: “The manager wasn’t the one who brought me here. He quickly made that clear with his attitude, his behaviour and lack of consideration. I wasn’t playing a lot despite being a France international coming out of the 2012 Euros and that I’d played well against England.
“He clearly hadn’t watched the Euros. He was someone who had a lot of activities outside of football, and we rarely saw him during the week. From Saturday to Thursday, he wasn’t present at training. It’s how he works. I’m not judging, but I reckon you need to be there daily, especially when you’re the one picking the team.”
He wasn’t the only one being ignored, as Diarra told France Football Frédéric Piquionne was being ‘mistreated’ at Upton Park and wasn’t ‘allowed to come to the training centre’.
Not wanting to be a ‘crybaby’, the player just bided his time, and accepted the fact that moving to West Ham was first and foremost his choice.
It just didn’t work out.
