OPINION
West Ham attacker Michail Antonio is clearly trying to aid his side’s cause but submitted another inferior display against Brighton on Friday.
The versatile player replaced Pedro Obiang in the 68th minute of the Hammer’s latest match against the Seagulls and despite his best efforts couldn’t stop his side from succumbing to a 1-0 defeat.
Antonio looked determined to try and force a breakthrough for his side as he tried to make things happened when he was on the ball.
The 28-year-old, who earns £70,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac), tried to use his blistering pace to his advantage and also attempted to grab an equaliser for his side with some shots from distance.
However nothing was working for Antonio and he just didn’t look like he had quality needed to take a Premier League game by storm.
The attacker has looked inferior and below the required standard all season and it seems that even he is clearly going all out to have positive impact, he simply can’t.
Antonio, who has had terrible luck with injuries, doesn’t look anywhere near the player who upon arriving in the Hammers’ first-team was a sensation.
Whether constant injuries have worn him down or whether a lack of confidence from continued poor displays have turned him into a shadow of his former self, who knows, but one thing is clear and that is that unfortunately Antonio doesn’t look like delivering the goods anytime soon.
Therefore despite him clearly having the best intentions for the Hammers, Manuel Pellegrini must crush Antonio’s heart and axe him for a significant period of time after witnessing his struggles against Brighton.
