West Ham Zone View: Danny Mills gets striker verdict spot on
West Ham United manager David Moyes mixed things up against Manchester City on Wednesday night, going with Michail Antonio up front.
That saw club record signing Sebastien Haller drop to the substitute’s bench, perhaps unsurprisingly.
The Hammers fell to a 2-0 defeat, of course, so there’s a debate to be had over whether it worked or not.
In some ways, though, the Scot had no choice, such has been Haller’s struggle to adapt to Premier League football.
Former England international Danny Mills thinks he knows why the Hammers boss made the decision he did.
“You know what you’re going to get from him, he works his socks off, he’s going to run himself into the ground,” he told Football Insider.
“He’s going to work tirelessly, put defenders under pressure, give you an out ball at times, chase lost causes.
“Sometimes at this stage of the season, although you’ll look to someone like a Haller and think: ‘He might nick us a goal, I want someone who’s going to work his socks off, put the other team under pressure and I know what I’m going to get.'”
He’s absolutely spot on, there. When you’re playing a team like City you can’t afford to have any passengers.
Haller has resembled that at times this campaign. His movement isn’t always up to scratch, while he definitely doesn’t have the work rate of an Antonio.
The Englishman, although he’s not prolific, looks more likely to grab a goal these days than the big Frenchman.
So Moyes went with the utility man rather than the out-and-out striker, and it’ll be interesting to see if he does the same thing on Monday against Liverpool.
In other West Ham news, the club are reportedly keeping tabs on a League One centre back.