Michail Antonio still irritated after incident in West Ham United defeat v Everton
Michail Antonio has revealed that he is still irritated by a decision that went against him in West Ham United’s defeat to Everton on Sunday 29 October.
The Hammers made it four matches without a win in all competitions when they were defeated by Sean Dyche’s side thanks to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s second-half strike, with fans voicing their frustration with David Moyes and his side.
But Antonio doesn’t believe that the Toffees’ winning goal should have counted after he was involved in the build-up, with Jarrad Branthwaite beating the Irons striker to a loose ball before finding Jack Harrison who provided the assist.
Speaking on the BBC’s Footballer’s Football podcast (1 November) he said: “It was a foul. It was a foul. I got hit in my face as I’m trying to control the ball.
“I went to the referee and the referee says he didn’t feel he saw anything and the VAR didn’t do anything, so it is what it is.”
Soft
Considering that Antonio is widely considered one of the strongest players in the Premier League, he simply has to be stronger at that moment and not allow Branthwaite to ease him off of the ball as he did and ultimately it cost Moyes’ side in the long run.
Branthwaite is a very good defender but is only 21 years old and doesn’t have the physical presence of someone like James Tarkowski, so Antonio should be able to hold him off, even if he believes that he was caught in the face as he tried to control the ball.
Nobody other than the West Ham number nine has even claimed that there was a foul in the build-up which probably shows just how little contact there was and that the officials and the VAR made the correct call in the end.
The Hammers need more from their strikers this season, whether that be Antonio or Danny Ings as the goals have dried up in recent weeks for both forwards and Moyes has become reliant on moments of magic from the likes of Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse.
Antonio has to rediscover his form and begin finding the net once again and that includes being stronger with his back to goal to bring his teammates into matches more often.
In other West Ham news, Nigel Reo-Coker has slammed Moyes for his decision to play Mohammed Kudus out of position