Michail Antonio says David Moyes’ big West Ham plan simply is not working but he’s part of the problem.
West Ham head into the huge six-pointer against Everton on Saturday knowing a defeat will likely spell the end of Moyes’ time at the club for a second time.
When the Scot returned to east London in 2020 he oversaw two years of rapid progress.
That was based on hard work, team spirit and the shrewd recruitment of hungry players with the right character who bought into the manager’s ideals and – more importantly fit into his system.
As West Ham have become more of a scalp during their recent rise, teams have shown them more respect, defending deep against them.
That posed Moyes with a problem. He had to turn West Ham from a counter attacking team who were – for the most part – happy to concede the lion’s share of possession to their opponents to a side who could control the ball and take the game to the opposition.
Moyes has spent over £200m net in two summers to try and achieve that only for West Ham to find themselves embroiled in a potentially disastrous relegation battle.
Scoring goals has been the big problem for West Ham for some time. Michail Antonio’s form dropped off a cliff over a year ago and the soon-to-be 33-year-old looks a completely spent force at the top level.
Gianluca Scamacca has struggled with a lack of service since his £35m summer move. So it is not surprising that West Ham have scored just 15 goals in 19 league games so far – the second worst record in the Premier League.
As a result the Hammers have been linked with a host of strikers, culminating in the imminent signing of Aston Villa forward Danny Ings while Terem Moffi could soon follow him.
Antonio has been linked with a move away and he’s not going quietly it seems.
Because Antonio says Moyes’ big West Ham plan simply is not working, but he’s part of the problem.
“I feel what we’ve done over the last two years we’ve thought, ‘let’s not get complacent, let’s get our 40 points’. This year, at the beginning of the season, we were like, ‘we were so close to the Champions League last year. We want the Champions League’,” Antonio said on BBC Sport’s The Footballer’s Football Podcast.
“We were jumping steps. We tried to change our philosophy. You can see, this season, we haven’t played the same way we’ve been playing the last two years. We’ve changed it slightly. We’ve brought in players to play through the thirds.
“Over the last couple of years we’ve not really played much possession football. We kind of sat off teams and just countered. Because we’ve been up there in the top six, everyone up there plays possession football. They keep the ball, try to break teams down and score more free-flowing goals.
“Teams are countering us the way we would have countered them. It’s a transition. We’re trying to transition to become a bigger team and, I’ve got to be honest, it ain’t working.”
And neither are you Michail. The striker has been a great servant to West Ham but the Hammers have always been awful at knowing the right time to say goodbye.
Antonio completely contradicted himself regarding West Ham signing a new striker over the last year.
First he urged the club to bring a new forward in to help share the goalscoring burden. But since Scamacca arrived and took his place all Antonio has done is moan and sulk.
And when given a chance to win his shirt back he has flopped every single time.
Now he has spoken out saying Moyes’ strategy is not working when he knows his manager’s job is on the line.
It is starting to feel like we may well have seen the last of the Jamaican in a West Ham shirt.
MORE WEST HAM NEWS
Major Scamacca fears as striker absent from training before Everton.
West Ham striker dream dead as target and outcast finalises move.
Mexico to the rescue for worried West Ham fans as manager talk swirls.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
