Rickie Lambert rages at Gareth Southgate for overlooking Michail Antonio while at West Ham United
After being overlooked by England and Gareth Southgate during his time at West Ham, Michail Antonio swapped allegiance to Jamaica.
Antonio always found himself on the brink of making the England squad, but Southgate never gambled and gave the 32-year-old striker his Three Lions debut.
Then, in 2021, Antonio decided to give up on England and swap allegiance to Jamaica, where he now regularly stars for the national team.
Former England player Rickie Lambert believes Southgate missed out by not giving Antonio a chance.
Via talkSPORT, Lambert said: “Antonio for West Ham – I can’t believe we missed out on him. He would have been the perfect foil for Harry Kane.
“Not only did he miss out on the World Cup, but he’s playing for Jamaica now.
“That was a big loss for England.”
Learn the lesson
Whether you agree with Lambert or not, Southgate needs to start picking players regardless of their club for England.
Jarrod Bowen is another West Ham star that had to perform extremely well just to pip other underperforming players from the Premier League ‘Big Six’ to the England squad.
Southgate eventually called up the 25-year-old to the Three Lions squad, but only because Bowen forced his hand.
Arguably, Antonio’s form throughout his time at West Ham was definitely deserving of an England appearance at one point, yet Southgate was too hesitant.
Thankfully, Antonio managed to make it work and he’s now doing extremely well for Jamaica, scoring three goals in his first seven appearances for the nation.
But Antonio needs to act as a lesson for the England boss – to pick players solely on form and to stop looking at which badge they wear on a weekend.