View: Michail Antonio must deliver in West Ham clash v Newcastle
Michail Antonio enjoys a very privileged position at West Ham.
He is the club’s only striker, and David Moyes is protective about him given his injury issues in the past at the London Stadium.
The Hammers boss cannot drop him as he has very few options on the bench, in fact, none. He can only hope that the 31-year-old will deliver.
Antonio has last scored for the Hammers in the 3-2 win against Crystal Palace on 01 January at Selhurst Park. Since then, he has gone six games without scoring.
Moyes has suggested today (18 February) that he wants Antonio to return to his goalscoring form, and that he has even seen signs of encouragement.
He said, as quoted by Football London: “I want him to get on the goalscoring sheet regularly. But as a club it is not a problem as we’re still fourth in the Premier League as goals scored goes. So we are really fortunate.
“We have other people who have stepped up with goals in different areas in the team. Generally, any football manager would probably want the goals to be shared around because it shows you can score from different areas.
“I want to get Mich back to the levels because he’s really important for the team. Even last week at Leicester he did not get a goal but I am just beginning to see little bits which are giving us encouragement he’s getting back and I don’t think it’ll be too long before he’s back on the scoresheet.”
By the turn of the year, it’s not Antonio, but Jarrod Bowen who is carrying the team forward.
The winger is scoring goals and providing assists for fun at the moment (only Mohamed Salah has a better record than him) and it won’t be an exaggeration to say Moyes depends on him to bring results.
Against Newcastle, Bowen could be absent for the game. He picked up a knock in the previous game and Moyes remained tight-lipped when asked about Bowen’s injury.
In case, he fails to recover for Saturday’s game, the responsibility to score must fall on Antonio.
There’s no doubt that he works hard, but the Hammers are looking for goals from him.
In other West Ham United news, David Sullivan is set to earn the Irons “tens of millions” in new 2022 windfall