OPINION

West Ham drew 1-1 with Huddersfield Town on Saturday and Manuel Pellegrini would have learned a about his side.

The Hammers wowed in their previous outing when they overcame Burnley 4-2 at the London Stadium last weekend but they just didn’t look they were firing on all cylinders when tasked with defeating the Terriers at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Yet while it wasn’t the most positive performance to send the Hammers into the international break, it was one that would have highlighted areas of the team they need to be worked on ahead of the next league fixture.

Forever West Ham has rounded up three things learned about the Hammers after their draw with Huddersfield on Saturday.

Anderson performs to the extremes

Felipe Anderson borders on being a cliche at this point. When the Brazilian is good, he is very very good to the point of having fans salivate over him but when he is bad, you question why he is playing for the club as his displays border on being unwatchable. Anderson was terrible against the Terriers in several ways and just looked like a passenger being carried in the game. Yet he then briefly came alive to dance past the Huddersfield defence and eventually find himself with an opportunity to score a stunning goal, which he kindly took. It’s mystery how Pellegrini is going to be able to get Anderson to deliver consistent performances as they’re his performances have such an extreme range, it’s a hard task to tackle.

Arnautovic is a worry

Marko Arnautovic is the star man at the Hammers by some distance as he is proven that he is able to deliver the goods over a consistent period of time. However it was worrying sight to witness him had little to no impact against Huddersfield Town especially when they are one of the sides clearly struggling in the Premier League this season. The forward was very quiet and you wonder whether his recent injury concerns are starting to weigh him down and have a negative effect on his ability to perform. While it was only one bad performance by Arnautovic, given his importance to the team, it’s hard not to worry what caused it.

Antonio has to be binned

Michail Antonio is a lost cause. It’s hard to admit but that simply is the case. The former fan favourite, who earns a staggering £70,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac), was brought on as a substitute during Saturday’s game and handed Pellegrini several reasons to shun him from now on. Antonio frustrated everyone around him as he was careless in possession and then kept having opportunities on goal from distance like he believed he was David Beckham in his prime. While the former England captain famously used to bend his efforts from long-range, particularly set-pieces, into the top-corner for whatever side he was playing for, you’d have backed Antonio to hit his shot in to row Z instead. If this was his first terrible outing of the season, you could claim a bad day at the office. However aside from in the 8-0 demolition of Macclesfield Town, it’s hard to remember Antonio doing anything positive in his other outings this season.