West Ham United: Sky Sports pundit wowed by ‘powerful’ Michail Antonio in 1-1 v Aston Villa
Dean Ashton has raved about Michail Antonio after what he did in the West Ham game against Aston Villa on Sunday (17 March).
Speaking on Sky Sports during the game, the pundit said the Jamaican international must be a “nightmare to play against” due to the running he does off the ball and because of how “powerful” he is.
He added that it will be really important for the 33-year-old forward to have got on the scoresheet after heading home Vladimir Coufal’s inch-perfect cross in the 1-1 draw at the London Stadium.
“When he’s properly fit and he’s aggressive as he can be, he must be a nightmare to play against,” said Ashton. “He’s constantly running, he’s constantly showing for the ball, physically he’s so powerful.
“But he also makes those intelligent runs around the sides and unselfish runs down the sides. That will be really important for his confidence to put a goal alongside all the other work that he does.”
Michail Antonio could prove to be huge asset for West Ham
It will have come as a great relief for Antonio to get on the scoresheet after failing to find the back of the net since August.
While that has largely been down to the injury that kept him out of action for several months, no forward likes to go so long without scoring.
The Jamaican put in an excellent performance despite not registering a goal in the 5-0 victory over Freiburg on Thursday (14 March) and he got his reward for that against Villa at the London Stadium.
He’s proved over the past couple of games that he could potentially be a huge asset for us in the final couple of months of this season.
David Moyes knows a fit and firing Antonio can cause any defence problems on his day and he’ll be hoping for some more big performances from him before the end of the campaign.
In other West Ham news, Jim White and Simon Jordan have been caught in an explosive row over a Hammers controversy.
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