Michail Antonio starts for West Ham United again despite awful displays as team news v Newcastle revealed
Michail Antonio has started yet again for West Ham in their confirmed XI versus Newcastle, despite his poor run of performances, with Mohammed Kudus suffering from his continued inclusion by David Moyes.
The Jamaican forward had a great start to the season, but his recent performances have been poor, with no goals in his last five games, and Kudus is missing out on valuable game time because of his continued inclusion.
Jarrod Bowen’s emergence as an option to play as a striker, as he did in the Europa League victory over Freiburg, it makes no sense for Moyes to stick with Antonio when he simply hasn’t been good enough recently.
Antonio hasn’t played more than 74 minutes in any of his last three games for the Hammers, with that coming against Liverpool. Against Sheffield United, he was dragged off after just 72 minutes, and that number was even fewer against Manchester City with just 67 minutes played. [Sofascore]
While the Jamaican picked up an assist against Sheffield United, he was otherwise ineffective. Just nine completed passes during his time on the pitch, one deal won from six contested, and losing possession nine times from only 22 touches of the ball showed how he struggled.
His performance in the defeat to Liverpool was worse, with five completed passes in 74 minutes at an accuracy of 63%, he gave the ball away 11 times, won just four of 16 duels both on the ground and in the air, and had just one shot.
Going back again to the defeat to Manchester City at the London Stadium, Antonio touched the ball just 17 times and completed five passes. He won a higher percentage of duels, with three won from five attempted, but lost the ball eight times and failed to impact the game at all.
With his performances faltering and his impact on the game becoming ineffective, Bowen should be the man trusted to provide the goals, as he has proven he can do with his five from seven appearances this season, and Kudus should be given his chance from the start.
A more dynamic, creative and fluid front three, with those two alongside Lucas Paqueta, should be the way forward for Moyes, with Antonio’s sloppy performances stunting the progress of the three West Ham star men.
In other West Ham news, one Hammers star has turned down a move to Liverpool in favour of a new deal.