Danny Murphy has spotted a big problem with Michail Antonio and highlighted how West Ham boss David Moyes could have made things a lot better in January.
The Hammers failed to sign a single player during the January transfer window and that came as a huge disappointment to the club’s fans.
Read also: One West Ham man must never play for David Moyes again after Tottenham horror show
We had a real opportunity to really kick on and Moyes’s failure to bring anyone into the London Stadium may well cost us dearly in the race for Champions League football.
The Scot may well say that because there was nobody available, he kept his powder dry for the summer. The problem with that way of thinking is that if we finish in eighth spot in the Premier League table this season, will we still be able to attract players of a sufficient calibre? Probably not.
Surely there was someone available out there who could have provided ample competition for Michail Antonio…surely there was.
Danny Murphy notices Michail Antonio problem
The 31-year-old has looked incredibly jaded over the past few months.
The fact that he is our only striker is beyond farcical. David Moyes has to play him week in, week out.
The number of games that the Jamaica international has been forced to play are now beginning to take their toll.
And Danny Murphy highlighted how West Ham missed a massive trick in the January transfer window, when speaking to talkSPORT:
“I do think they missed a trick in not getting someone. Even if they couldn’t get someone they thought would take his place, someone who can compete at his level. Someone a bit younger or hungry who doesn’t mind coming off the bench. When a team makes a signing in your position you automatically jump up a gear. You know you may get your place taken. When Antonio is fit, generally he plays. Although he [Moyes] said the right things, I don’t think he got what he wanted [in January]. He’s an intelligent man, why wouldn’t he want someone in? A bit of strengthening and a bit of risk, not stupid in spending hundreds of millions, but one or two in attacking areas – every West Ham fan was saying the same thing. There’s no way Moyesy didn’t want someone in.”
Murphy is spot on here.
Antonio has been in really poor form since the end of last year. He knows he will play every single week though, regardless of his performances, because Moyes quite simply doesn’t have another option.
The 31-year-old would undoubtedly have more hunger to impress if we had another striker waiting in the wings to take his place.
Hopefully Moyes addresses that issue in the summer.
Even if he does though, the January transfer window just gone will still feel like a huge opportunity wasted.
Read also:
‘Unbelievable’: Jamie O’Hara actually hits nail on the head for once with West Ham snipe
Jamie Redknapp shares interesting David Moyes and Said Benrahma theory
West Ham ace Michail Antonio needs to speak to Ian Wright urgently after what Defoe said
West Ham insider makes Andriy Yarmolenko new contract claim
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
