John Aldridge accuses West Ham of making ‘fateful error’ v Liverpool
John Aldridge has accused West Ham forward Michail Antonio of making a “fateful error” with the comments he made prior to his side’s loss to Liverpool.
Antonio said on his podcast in the days leading up to the contest at Anfield on Sunday [24 September] that he expects West Ham to finish above Liverpool in this season’s Premier League.
The Jamaica international also criticised some of the Reds’ recent performances, which ultimately came back to haunt him as they ran out 3-1 winners.
Writing in his column for the Liverpool Echo on Monday [25 September], Aldridge said: “West Ham, or Michail Antonio in particular, also made the fateful error of giving the opposition a free team talk. You can’t be doing that.
“I did think it was blown out of context a little bit but he’s left himself open there, [it was] very naive to say that.”
Big talk
“Naive” is certainly one way of putting those Antonio comments.
It did not help that Antonio had a particularly poor game at Anfield in which he managed just one off-target attempt in 73 minutes before being replaced.
The 33-year-old was dispossessed three times, meanwhile, which was the joint-most of any player on the pitch.
It was little wonder his substitution was met with ironic cheers by Liverpool supporters, who were all fully aware of his confident claim a few days earlier.
This is not the first time Antonio has been called out for comments made on his podcast, and you get the impression it will not be the last.
After going four games and counting without a goal involvement, it might be wise that he started doing some of that talking on the pitch.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers’ next Premier League opponents have reportedly made a decision with regards to their manager’s future.