Michail Antonio breaks silence after West Ham United v Liverpool saga
Michail Antonio believes that he “probably won the game” against Liverpool, given the amount of backlash the West Ham United striker received for his bold prediction.
The Hammers striker had dubbed the Irons’ clash with Liverpool as a six-pointer before ultimately predicting that they would finish above Jurgen Klopp’s side this season [Footballer’s Football, 18 September], only for David Moyes’ side to eventually be beaten 3-1 at Anfield.
Antonio was then absent from the following edition of the podcast with Callum Wilson ridiculing his co-host, but having returned to the podcast on Wednesday (4 October) the Jamaican international admitted that his prediction was wide of the mark and revealed the backlash he received.
Speaking on Footballer’s Football (4 October) he said: “I got a big pie in my face, yeah, it’s no problem. I ain’t worried. It is what it is. I would do it again – I will do it again.
“I swear to you, if we won that game, some would have turned up to my house. If we won that game, I was so implanted in these Liverpool fans’ heads they would have turned up to my house. It was a madness. It went everywhere.
“The amount of messages I got all week from Liverpool fans after the game. I probably won the game even though I didn’t win because how I’m still implanted, I’m still getting messages today.”
Will do it again
Everyone likes to see personality from footballers, especially in an age where so many professionals are almost like robots during their interviews due to the sheer amount of media training they’ve completed, but Antonio has to be careful in how he conducts himself.
So much of the build-up to the Hammers’ trip to Anfield was dominated by what he had said rather than the actual game at hand and although it is unlikely to distract the players, it does appear to capture the attention of the media who are almost willing him to end up with egg on his face.
It clearly doesn’t impact the forward who has been in the game long enough to know which battles to fight and which to leave alone and the Hammers have bounced back excellently from what were two tough Premier League fixtures in a row against Liverpool and Manchester City.
Hopefully, the Irons can head into the international break in the similar positive form that they did in September and Antonio can ensure that he can lead West Ham to a couple more wins on the pitch instead of on social media against Freiburg and Newcastle.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers have reportedly identified a striker target but face competition from Tottenham