David Moyes insisted that starting Michail Antonio for West Ham against Aston Villa last night was the right call, as quoted by Football.London.
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The 30-year-old hadn’t played for the Hammers since October 24th after suffering a minor hamstring injury against Manchester City.
Sebastien Haller filled in for Antonio during the former Nottingham Forest man’s absence, and the Ivorian has performed admirably.
The 26-year-old scored the winning goal against Sheffield United last weekend.
So it came as somewhat of a surprise when Moyes opted to play Antonio from the start instead of Haller against Aston Villa last night.
It seemed to back fire, however. The 30-year-old was clearly nowhere near fit. He was well off the pace and quite simply should not have started the game.
Moyes insisted that choosing Micky to start the game was the right call, however, as quoted by Football.London:
“We made a big call tonight but I think to play Michail Antonio was the right call. He’s just not quite fit 100 per cent. If Seb can keep his form up then it will be useful for us.”
West Ham play host to Manchester United next weekend and Sebastien Haller surely has to start the game.
Antonio is vitally important for us. The 30-year-old is not effective when he’s not 100 per cent fit, however.
And quite frankly, Moyes’s post match comments were baffling to say the least. Surely he knows that he made the wrong decision by dropping Haller. Perhaps he’s just trying to save face?
It matters little, however. We took all three points. Let’s just hope that Moyes doesn’t make the same mistake again.
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