Tomas Soucek tells West Ham teammate Michail Antonio he has to ‘score many goals’ to deliver on Liverpool promise
Tomas Soucek told Michail Antonio he must back up his own big claims by scoring the goals to help West Ham finish above Liverpool.
The Hammers forward was speaking on his own Footballer’s Football podcast on Monday (18 September) when he said: “I am backing myself over Liverpool. You know what, I think we are going to finish higher than Liverpool this season. I’m putting it out there.”
Midfielder Soucek said he and his team-mates “laugh” about Antonio’s podcast but told the Jamaica international that the onus is on him to help West Ham, who face Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday (24 September), deliver.
“Micky does lots of interviews that are funny and we just laugh about it!” Soucek said in quotes reported in the Sunday Mirror’s print edition (24 September, page 70).
“It’s great that he has this show, but, in terms of what he is saying, it’s something we need to follow through.
“If it ends up being true, I will be very happy, but he needs to score many goals to get us ahead of Liverpool.”
Love the confidence
Often when a player makes a bold claim such as Antonio’s they get knocked for being outlandish.
But personally I absolutely love it. Why should he not be confident? West Ham have been in great form this season and have assembed a really handy side after some smart business in the transfer window.
Look, it will not be easy to finish above Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp’s men were not great last season but, while there are still some vulnerabilities (especially in defence), it is still an excellent Reds side. To finish above them you might even have to win the league…
Without a crystal ball there is absolutely no way to predict that, but – while Soucek is right with that he says – I think we need more confidence such as that displayed by Antonio.
After all, that’s why we all love football isn’t it? No one wants to hear him say “Liverpool are too good, we can’t catch them”. No, forget that, draw some battle lines. Absolutely more of this kind of thing, please.
In other West Ham news, the future looks bright for one Hammers player after a contract update emerged.