Michail Antonio supports David Moyes for not forcing ‘difficult’ partnership with Gianluca Scamacca at West Ham United
Michail Antonio and Gianluca Scamacca have only played 45 minutes together for West Ham, and the former doesn’t believe it’ll happen again.
West Ham were pushing for an equaliser against Manchester United on Sunday, but instead of bringing Antonio on to play alongside Scamacca, Moyes chose to replace one with the other at Old Trafford.
The Hammers failed to find the back of the net, and it marks another frustrating performance in which West Ham were wasteful in front of goal.
But despite plenty of fans and pundits calling for both strikers to play together up front, Antonio just doesn’t see it happening.
Speaking to Match of the Day 2 (31 October), Antonio said: “We’ve got so many No.10s so it’s difficult to leave two [strikers] out because we’ve obviously bought Paqueta in.
“Once he comes back in, I feel he needs to start and we aren’t going to push him out wide because we brought him in there to create and stuff like that. Going two [up front] then when he is back is going to be difficult.
“The only time we could really do it is around now when he is not available but the teams we are playing against, maybe it is just not something the gaffer is really thinking about right now. It’s something we could do in the future.”
It’s an option
Antonio understandably points out that West Ham have a handful of creative players in the squad that Moyes will want to start, but that doesn’t mean a striker partnership has to be ruled out.
When the Hammers do find themselves behind and chasing a game, then sometimes it’s important to have that extra presence in the box. Antonio and Scamacca are both physically gifted and will be a handful for opposition defenders.
Against Manchester United on the weekend would’ve been the perfect opportunity for Moyes to pile on the pressure by fielding both Scamacca and Antonio, but the Scot instead went for a more cautious approach.
It also likely has something to do with Scamacca’s fouls and yellow card, but if that is the case then Moyes has to showcase his bravery by fielding both the next time West Ham are chasing a game.
It makes sense for only one to start in front of a creative midfield that includes new signing Lucas Paqueta, but with goals hard to come by at the moment, it seems bizarre not to at least experiment with Scamacca and Antonio together at some point.