Simon Jordan leaps to defence of David Moyes after West Ham defeat v Tottenham
West Ham boss David Moyes did the right thing by calling out Michail Antonio for his lack of goalscoring form after their defeat to Tottenham, according to Simon Jordan.
The Hammers were beaten 3-1 by their fierce rivals to all but knock them out of the race for the top four positions this season, with Antonio failing to find the net for a tenth league game in a row.
After the game Moyes mentioned that the 31-year-old could be suffering with confidence issues, and Jordan told his talkSPORT show [March 21, 10:39] that he did nothing wrong and is simply trying to keep the standards up.
“In the same way that you wouldn’t look to take Harry Kane out of being the primary striker at Tottenham, you wouldn’t look to take Michail Antonio out of being the primary striker if you’re operating in a space where you can’t get someone better,” he said.
“Just getting someone in to supplement the squad wasn’t what David wanted to achieve. I don’t think there’s anything particularly controversial in what he said.
“I think the nature of the relationship he has with the players is clearly a solid one. I think he’s not going into Antonio, he’s talking to a player who’s operating at a high level and reminding him he wants him to continue operating at that level. I think there’s nothing wrong with what he said.
“I think Antonio is a real talisman for West Ham, not just in his goal output but in his play full stop. So he’s just stating the obvious.
“If you haven’t scored a goal since New Year’s Day or whatever it was, and you had three or four good opportunities during the course of a game and you’re not hitting your target, and you’re the number nine for the football club, he’s sort of calling out to remind Antonio that there may well be opportunities in the summer for them to dip in to the transfer market and buy players to run alongside him, so over to you Michail.
“Keep your standards high because it’s important for you, the football club and the team.”
Reminder
Jordan is spot on here, which isn’t something we say too often when it comes to his opinions.
Antonio is clearly struggling with form and his physical conditioning right now as he looks exhausted and isn’t nearly as influential as he has been previously.
All Moyes is doing with those comments is simply reminding him of the level of player he is and can be, while reminding him that the club are always looking to improve.
He hasn’t hung him out to dry and hasn’t thrown him under a bus. Antonio is still the first choice striker and it seems as though that’s still the plan going forward too unless someone better can be found.
There is plenty of trust within the squad between manager and players and an acceptance among them all that they can improve with the right additions in the summer, so Antonio knows what’s at stake.
In other West Ham news, West Ham have option to re-loan ace next season, price to make deal permanent shared – Athletic