Could Antonio be the spark in the West Ham attack?
Understandably some West Ham fans have questioned Michail Antonio, he hasn’t played in this
league before and perhaps it will take a period of time adapt. The English winger will surely get his
chance to start and impress the West Ham faithful against Stoke on Saturday due to the lack of other
attacking options. The former Nottingham Forest player will aim to provide width as well as his
ability to beat players with his pace and power. Antonio is currently the only natural winger who is
fit and despite some fans questioning the impact he might make, in my view he will relish the chance
to play a full 90 minutes and show the fans what he can do.
The 25 year old proved last season that he could score and assist which is unusual for a wide player,
and we should not discredit the Championship because it is a very competitive league which is
challenging to get promoted from. The arrival of Michail Antonio was eagerly anticipated among
football fans that I know. The reason for people looking forward to this particular player joining West
Ham is because he has incredible potential, he is more powerful than your average winger and also
he is a risk. Some fans would say he is not proven in the Premier league but Diafra Sakho came from
the second division of French football and he has been an exceptional player for the club. Similarly,
Alan Devonshire who became a legend at West Ham was playing non-league football before being
spotted, once again proving that players can become very good and come from a lower league.
Some football fans immediately think that if you sign a player from a lower league, they won’t do
amazingly well or they won’t be very good, Antonio is a good player, and he will hopefully thrive in
the Premier league for West Ham.
The fact that Antonio is the only natural winger who is not injured will benefit him massively. Prior to
the injury of Victor Moses, Antonio was coming off the bench probably knowing that unless he did
very well, it was unlikely he would start in the next game. However, now that Antonio is West Ham’s
only winger he could in theory play badly and would still make the first team. Obviously as fans of
West Ham, we all hope he does well and can help the team win games, although I suppose Antonio
will enjoy the freedom or lack of competition at least for a while so that he can properly settle.
Ultimately, I as a fan of West Ham would not have been particularly inspired by the signing of
Michail Antonio if he had played averagely last season and not scored so many goals, but he did and
as fans that should excite us because we could be witnessing a very good footballer playing for West
Ham. The English winger does need time to settle and fully adapt, but I as many fans, believe that
Antonio will score goals and help the team. Who knows, with some good performances he might
even keep Victor Moses out of the team.
