West Ham United: Michail Antonio shares why he ‘hated’ position change under David Moyes
Michail Antonio has revealed that he initially “hated” playing as a forward at West Ham after being converted from his position on the right wing.
Speaking on the BBC’s Footballer’s Football Podcast on Tuesday (5 December, 17:19), the 33-year-old forward said he “disliked” constantly having centre-halves in his back after David Moyes asked him to play up front in the 2019/20 season.
But the Jamaica international admitted that, once he started to get more opportunities as a striker, he started to enjoy playing up front and realised that it was the ideal position for him now.
“When I first moved up front, I hated it,” said Antonio. “I hated the centre-halves constantly in my back. When you get wide, you can get into space and get at people.
“But you’ve constantly got centre-halves and when you get in the box because you’re the striker, they’re mainly just paying attention to where you are and then everyone drifts off around you and gets more space because the centre-halves are watching you more than anyone else. I disliked it.
“It wasn’t until I played there more, people were looking for me more and getting more opportunities from playing there, that’s when I was like ‘yeah, this is my position now’.”
Effective
Although Antonio perhaps didn’t like playing up front initially, he was extremely effective in the 2019/20 season as he played a huge role in helping West Ham avoid relegation.
He recorded double figures in three consecutive years up until the 2021/22 campaign before his numbers – and influence – started to drop off a little bit last season.
The forward has only scored seven Premier League goals across the past two seasons and there are now questions being asked about his role moving forward.
The amount of games and minutes he has been asked to play appears to be taking its toll after he recently picked up a knee injury that has seen him miss the past few matches.
There is no doubt that he has been an excellent servant for the Hammers over a number of years, but perhaps a younger option is now needed to take some of the weight off his shoulders.
In other West Ham news, one Hammers player’s exit stance has emerged after contract news has dropped.