Gary Neville raved about Michail Antonio when speaking on Sky Sports last night (Monday November 30th, 19:35), suggesting that he would have hated to play against the West Ham ace.
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The 30-year-old started against Aston Villa last night for the first time since suffering an injury against Manchester City in October.
In all fairness, Antonio was nowhere near fit last night and it was probably his worst performance in a Hammers shirt since Premier League football resumed back in June.
That didn’t stop Gary Neville from praising the West Ham forward, however.
Neville told Sky Sports that he would have hated to play against Antonio in his playing days:
“Enthusiasm, infectious. I absolutely love watching him play and I think there is a lack of appreciation as to how good he is. The running, the quality and the way in which he occupies defenders. I would hate to play against in. You would not want to be in a team against him. He causes you problems, doesn’t let you rest in or out of possession and he’s a nightmare to play against.”
Antonio is a real handful. He has been clinical in front of goal recently as well with 11 goals in his last 16 Premier League games for West Ham.
It would be great to see the former Nottingham Forest man deployed alongside Sebastien Haller in attack. Hopefully David Moyes will not rush the 30-year-old back too quickly, however. The last thing we need is for Antonio to tear a hamstring and be out for another two months.
He is an incredibly important player for West Ham. And Neville’s comments prove just how much opposing defenders hate coming up against him.
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