Antonio should be West Ham’s super sub, not a starter
By Adam Smith
His finishing isn’t great, vision is not elite, but boy, can Michail Antonio run his legs off on the pitch. West Ham need to capitalize on this skill set and lock him in as a super sub.
Allow me to set the stage for you, reader. It’s stoppage time and the ball is in the home team’s end. The holding midfielder calmly turns inside and upfield to look for an outlet when suddenly he is dispossessed by a silent, pressing opposition attacker. The ball is stripped from the home player and flipped out to the wing where the second half substitute, known for his blazing pace, picks up the ball, dashes into the box, and slots home a 93rd-minute winner.
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Sound familiar? It should because that is an indiscriminate (and beautiful) retelling of how Wolves stole three points from West Ham in stoppage time at the London Stadium.
The key to the late game heroics was the substitution of pace merchant Adama Traore. Carlos Sanchez did all the work necessary in midfield to give the ball away so the glory goes to the winger who blew by his marker in anticipation of the steal and clinically finished short side.
It would be great if West Ham could utilize a similar tactic to see out games and try to capitalize on tired teams late in matches, wouldn’t it? Well, West Ham don’t have Traore so it seems unlikely… until you realize Traore and Michail Antonio are very similar players who are both capable of this type of play!
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Michail Antonio came on in West Ham’s 3-1 win over Everton this past weekend, and while he didn’t appear on the score sheet Antonio was effective in closing out the game for West Ham. Used as a center forward, Antonio played off of Felipe Anderson and Robert Snodgrass to take the ball into the corners with his speed and hold off the opposition to kill time with his massive frame.
Antonio has been used as a starting left winger, right winger, and right midfielder this season, all to relatively unsuccessfully. If you take ‘starting’ out of his position and I believe you have found a solution to this problem and have also found where Antonio must play moving forward.
A sub suits his play style and injury record, but his ego may have him furious at not being a starter. There is no shame in being a sub, just ask Chicharito who made a name for himself as a clinical finisher at Manchester United having appeared in 104 matches, 51% of them being sub appearances.
It just makes sense for Antonio who often struggles with injury. More minutes means more time to get injured, so if West Ham can alleviate some of this pressure by using him as a sub it’s a win-win for both parties.
Andriy Yarmolenko‘s coming out party via a two-goal Premier League start debut at Everton allows for West Ham to ride out his form and implement Antonio as a sub for the foreseeable future. Even if Yarmolenko picks up a knock or dips in form, it’s Snodgrass who has to start of me, to later be replaced by the musclebound Antonio.
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Manuel Pellegrini is a smart man so I believe he’ll find a way to maximize Antonio’s skill set. He was wise enough to change six players in his starting XI, implement a new formation in a false nine 4-3-3, and has loads of Premier League experience. I trust him to do the right thing with Antonio.