David Moyes rues Antonio miss as West Ham only muster 1-1 draw with Burnley
David Moyes was left to ponder what went wrong for West Ham after the Irons only managed a 1-1 home draw against Burnley on Sunday.
A combination of fine Nick Pope goalkeeping and poor finishing left fans in the London stadium disappointed after such a fine display in midweek during the 3-0 success over Lyon.
Michail Antonio arguably missed the most glaring opportunity, firing straight at Pope one on one after being fed through by Jarrod Bowen.
And Moyes didn’t sugarcoat his worry over the 32-year-olds form, saying the Hammers need their star striker back in form quickly with crucial weeks of the season coming up.
“We need Michail Antonio’s goals because if you’re going to challenge and you want to be at the top, you need to take your opportunities when you make them,” he told official West Ham media on 17 April.
“Today, we didn’t take our opportunities. We had a great chance and we’ve not taken it. Today was a great opportunity for us and we’ve let that go.”
Desperately Needed
In such a vital period of a groundbreaking season for West Ham, they can’t afford to be taking any passengers, not least of all in the position of the main centre forward.
It would be unfair to solely blame Antonio as he has carried the burden of being the club’s only real senior striker remarkably well all season, but sentimentality can’t afford to derail the current campaign.
The problem for Moyes is he doesn’t really have any other realistic alternatives, so he like all Irons fans is somewhat crossing his fingers and hoping his key man can rediscover his goalscoring touch as soon as possible.
The Hammers desperately need Antonio back in form, and it would be such a shame for him individually to run out of gas in the tank before the season’s finale.
Here’s hoping he can rediscover that Midas touch and propel West Ham to European glory.
In other West Ham news, this player on the fringes might be let go by Moyes amid London rival’s interest.
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