WHZ View: Versatility of Michail Antonio will be key for West Ham v Man United
West Ham will be without talisman Jesse Lingard for the trip to Old Trafford on Sunday evening.
The Englishman is ineligible to play against his parent club. It’s a big blow to the Hammers, Lingard has four goals, one assist, and has won two penalties in his first six matches.
We’ve known all along he wouldn’t be able to play, so Moyes will have plans in place. Lingard’s biggest impact has been his ability to drive us up the pitch and beat players with ease. We will definitely miss him against United, but there is someone else more than capable of fulfilling this role.
Despite now leading the line, Michail Antonio still possesses his lightning power and brute force that made him such an exciting winger. The number 30 is back in form too, firing two goals and two assists in his last five matches.
Against Leeds he didn’t register an attempt at goal, instead, he fed off scraps and held up play. We were in control of the game and allowed Leeds to press, we didn’t advance much after going 2-0 up.
His versatility as a winger is one of his strong points, however. One thing we’ve seen him do a lot of, in particular the last three games, is to drift out wide to run the channels.
An example of this is below against Spurs. With us already 1-0 up through his opener, Antonio moves out to the left-wing in an attempt to stretch the back-line.
Antonio is such a strong and powerful runner. He skins Tanganga as if he isn’t there, much like he used to week in week out when he was a winger.
On this occasion, he drills a cross into the centre of the box for Jarrod Bowen to latch on to. This was an excellent bit of play, as the run from Bowen creates space for Fornals to drift into on the edge of the box.
The ball didn’t fall to him this time, but that’s beside the point. The space in the middle doesn’t come about unless Antonio works the channels and stretches the defence.
Antonio does this every game. This season he’s attempted 77 dribbles so far, despite only playing 18 league games [WyScout]. He’s averaging 4.2 dribbles per 90, it’s a nightmare for defenders to deal with because of the gaps he leaves in the middle.
It’s not just his movement that has improved, his striking instinct for his last two goals was excellent. Tap ins against Spurs and City weren’t the type of goal we’d usually associate him with scoring, showing just how well he’s developing into an out-and-out striker.
He’ll be a handful for Maguire and co this weekend, no doubt. Hopefully, Mick can add to his seven league goals this season and move closer to the club record help by Paolo Di Canio.
In other West Ham news, here is our predicted XI to face Manchester United this weekend.