‘He has been missing’ – Alan Smith claims West Ham 29y/o can be ‘talisman’ in relegation scrap
Alan Smith has claimed that Michail Antonio can be the talisman West Ham need to guide them to safety this season.
The Hammers are currently sat in the bottom three, but know that an unlikely draw against Liverpool on Monday evening would be enough to drag them out of the drop zone.
And Smith believes that the 29-year-old, if anyone, can be the man to help inspire David Moyes’ side.
Writing in a column for the Evening Standard, he said: “West Ham need a talisman, someone who can lift them and lead them like Jack Grealish does at Aston Villa.
“Michail Antonio would probably be the one player you are looking at, someone who can put himself about and get some goals.
“He has had a problem with his fitness this season and it surprised me that he was making only his seventh League start against City, which shows you how much he has been missing.
“West Ham will hope hoping he can last the course and the likes of Manuel Lanzini and Felipe Anderson can find some form.”
Can Antonio help the Hammers beat the drop?
At the start of the season, the chances are that most people would have picked out Felipe Anderson, Manuel Lanzini, or even new boy Sebastien Haller as the man who might fire West Ham up the table, and perhaps even into the realms of European football qualification.
Instead, the squad writ large has struggled to properly find it’s mojo, and there have been few players who can genuinely hold their heads up high as we enter the business end of the season.
Antonio is one of those who can, though.
The forward is a fantastic grafter, with a ridiculous amount of power at his disposal.
That translates into his natural pace and ability to breeze past players, but also into his uncanny aerial prowess.
So far this term he has averaged 5.2 aerial duels won per 90 minutes, as per Whoscored.
If he can stay fit, and if he can get his head down, he could be the unexpected difference maker.
In other West Ham news,