David Moyes believes that West Ham have to be careful with Michail Antonio
David Moyes has revealed that West Ham need to be careful to manage the workload of Michail Antonio.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the Scotsman hailed the 31-year-old for winning Player of the Month but warned that the Irons would have to be careful with Antonio [West Ham official website].
The striker has had a sensational start to the season, scoring four goals and providing three assists. However, last season, he missed 12 games through injury, and Moyes wants to avoid that happening again.
He said: “He came back in pre-season in good condition and worked very hard during that period. He’s been terrific for us, and long may that continue.
“We are going to have to manage him, but I do think he’s in a better place than he has been before.
“Obviously, you can get an injury which can put you out. We’ve brought in other people who can maybe score goals in another way, but we’ll have to try and use him at the right times and in the right way.”
West Ham to manage Antonio.
The Hammers had a good end to the transfer window, but they failed to sign a striker and are one injury away from having no senior forward.
So, we can see why Moyes is insisting he will be careful with the 31-year-old because he is so crucial to the way the Irons play.
However, in the 12 games that Antonio missed last season, the Hammers did win five of them and managed to cope without the striker in part because of Jesse Lingard’s presence.
The Irons don’t have him this season, so they would have to find goals from elsewhere, were Antonio to suffer an injury.
Therefore, we think that Moyes is taking the right approach with Antonio here and being cautious should ensure that he gets through the season and still manages to contribute to a huge number of goals.
Moyes is a big fan of Antonio, but it is good to see that he puts the player’s safety first.
In other West Ham news, Joe Cole makes bold Europa League claim.
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