Green Street Hammers
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West Ham need to axe “Passenger Players”

ByAdam Smith|
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 31: Heung-Min Son of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur at London Stadium on October 31, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 31: Heung-Min Son of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur at London Stadium on October 31, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
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LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 31: Juan Foyth (L) of Tottenham is challenged by Michail Antonio of West Ham during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur at London Stadium on October 31, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 31: Juan Foyth (L) of Tottenham is challenged by Michail Antonio of West Ham during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur at London Stadium on October 31, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Michail Antonio, much like Chicharito,  earned a start in the Cup match against Spurs due to his effort levels in West Ham’s ten men draw. Unfortunately, much like Chicharito, Antonio was exposed for his lack of finishing and overall work rate when it mattered. Both once promised depth and attacking threat but both are now unreliable and untrustworthy for their manager.

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Antonio is essentially a one trick pony now. He can run quite well but looks gassed much earlier in matches and often makes the wrong decision once he is goalside with the ball. Antonio did look threatening early in this match, but he seemed lost in his positioning, unsure if he was a striker or left winger, eventually losing interest.

As mentioned Antonio will run after the ball and usually beat his marking defender to it, but the issue with his work rate is that he often takes shifts off when there isn’t an offensive opportunity for him. This is unlike Arnautovic who pressures from the back in an effort to break up long spells of possession from the opposition. Antonio doesn’t seem interested in this type of play at all, which limits his usefulness as a forward.

Robert Snodgrass is a good example of a player who runs just as hard (if not harder) when he doesn’t have possession than when he does. Snodgrass came on at the 45-minute mark to start the second half, relieving Felipe Anderson of his scheduled short time on the pitch. Immediately, in the #10 position, Snodgrass started to pressure from the forward line and helped in turning the game around for West Ham.

West Ham need to rid themselves of Antonio who is a shadow of the player he was just two seasons ago. He has a cockiness to him that he picked up since signing a big-money deal and has nothing to show from it at the Premier League level this season.