Since making his debut in September last year Michail Antonio has been a big success at West Ham and has been a crucial part of many of the matches he has played in. Whether that is scoring a goal or defending well he made a huge contribution to the Hammers season last year and has already continued that impact with the first games of the season.
Antonio scored nine times last year after not playing from the start and even spending a long spree at right back. His pace, strength and aerial ability make him a powerful force both going forward and defending which makes him such an asset. While his defensive performances were good they weren’t always great and it was clear by how much he kept moving forward that he wanted to be attacking the box, not defending one. He did do well last year to contain some of the premier leagues fastest attackers such as Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez, but it was clear that his mind was always on attacking, and when moving forward he did leave the defence quite open after burning a load of energy to get up the pitch he didn’t have as much to get back. Of course being an attacker he didn’t always make the best tackles or keep the line as well as he should have, but considering it was a caretaker role he can easily be forgiven especially because he did do well more times then not.
It is clear however that without a doubt he has to play up front. Having Bryam and others to play right-back Antonio needs to be in that favoured right-wing role. He did have competition with the brilliant addition of Andre Ayew and it a powerful position to be able to pick which of them is playing, or both with a substitution to keep the pressure going for the full 90 minutes. However, with Ayew now injured until Christmas the position is open for Antonio and he definitely should be playing there.
Having scored twice already for the Hammers this season, both being late goals one of which gave West Ham a win over Bournemouth, he is once again proving the quality and threat he provides. While of course it would be beneficial to score goals earlier in the match knowing that West Ham can still be effective in the dying moments is a huge advantage as this is the time when a lot of teams will be at their worst and could allow for results to be clinched which would have been lost. While the second late goal was only a consolation after West Ham lost 3-1 to Manchester City at least we still know we can hit big teams on the counter a huge part of last season for the Hammers.
Both goals were also thumping headers where Antonio had risen well above all of those around him from both teams to connect well at the back-post beating the keeper. It’s his drive a determination which makes so effective going forward and while there are others to play in his position he should be getting the first pick start. Sam Allardyce has seen his potential picking him for the England team and there was a noticeable difference in the side when he was playing or playing in defence last each year. Hopefully Bilic will see just how good Antonio can be going forward and how much better West Ham could do with him playing on the right-wing.
