It hasn’t been the best season at the London Stadium, but there have been a few bright points that have left us feeling very optimistic.
One such example was the form of Michail Antonio against Leicester City over the weekend, with the Englishman putting in a fantastic performance for the Hammers.
That display has been commended by Mark Noble, who has praised the player over on the official West Ham website.
He said: “Michail works hard and he is strong. It was his best game for a long time and you could see that there is no end-of-season blues, because you could see what it meant to everyone.”
Discussing Antonio’s aerial ability, he added: “[I know that] he is going to win it 90 per cent of the time”.
It hasn’t been the best season from the winger, but on his day he’s unplayable, and as Noble points out, a number of his traits are invaluable for the Hammers.
Over the years, he’s really built up a reputation for his work ethic, and with good reason. He’s an endless runner, as Noble says, and that’s a fantastic trait to have. He’s also, in the past, really been a good scorer, namely in the 2016/17 season where he bagged 9 league goals. He’s had a better season than last year in that regard, so maybe he’s finding that goalscoring touch once more.
His issue, of course, is consistency. If he can add that to his game, though, he’ll be unstoppable – so let’s hope that he finishes the season on a high.
There’s certainly space for him in this team, but he just needs to prove to the manager that he’s worthy of a regular starting berth.
Thoughts?
