Green Street Hammers
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Inconsistent Antonio shows his quality as West Ham overcome Spurs

By Scott Johnson

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 27: Michail Antonio of West Ham United scores his team's first goal under pressure from Davinson Sanchez of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 27, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 27: Michail Antonio of West Ham United scores his team's first goal under pressure from Davinson Sanchez of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 27, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
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West Ham fired their way to a historic 1-0 at Spurs at the weekend, off the boot of Antonio. But it wasn’t a vintage 90 minutes for the winger.

If you’ve read my articles or listened to our podcast, you will know that I’m not a huge fan of West Ham’s Michail Antonio. He can be effective at times but his lack of technical ability has hurt us more times than it has helped. And that was on show at the new Spurs’ stadium.

If you watched the game up to the point Antonio scored, you would not have been surprised that I was calling for the former Nottingham Forest man Michail Antonio to be substituted. He had lost the ball a few times, wasted some key opportunities after failing to make up his mind what to do and shot wide on a number of occasions. But the the broken clock was right, and it worked.

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Yes he took the goal well, and he seems a really joyful player to have around the club, but what about the chance he had earlier in the match? When he simply ran until he stumbled his way into the Spurs defence despite us having a man overlap to his left? A prime example of how his low football IQ hurts us. However his pure physicality is a benefit. He has a great turn of pace, wonderful in the air and strong in battle with the defence. But I don’t like relying on him as a creative outlet.

Michail Antonio is currently on the list of potential players that could be sold in the summer. If someone comes in with a a bid of 20m+ I think that should be snapped up and focus on bringing in the technically gifted players we have at youth level through. Grady Diangana? There’s a player in the same position with massively more potential than Antonio.

Next. Irons take first blood at Spurs' new stadium. dark

Yes he gets results, and if it hadn’t been for a wonderful save by De Gea he could have had an important goal in the last 3 matches. But if we’re building a technical side capable of moving up the league I don’t think Antonio is vital. He could be a useful squad player, but I wouldn’t sacrifice a potential first team improvement to keep him at the club.