Jamie Carragher vented his frustration about Michail Antonio after a watershed moment in West Ham’s dismal defeat to Aston Villa.
West Ham put in their worst performance since the dark days of last season to lose 4-1 at Aston Villa on Sunday.
But the Hammers had spells where they were on top at Villa Park. And David Moyes admitted after the game his side’s play in the final third was nowhere near the level required.
As great a servant as he has been for West Ham, much of that was down to ageing striker Michail Antonio.
Whether it was failing to make the right runs to expose Villa’s risky high line, his awful touch or poor decision-making, Antonio was off it all night.
With the score delicately poised at 2-1 after West Ham had got themselves back in it, Lucas Paqueta slid a delicious pass into Antonio which was begging to be turned into a chance at goal.
It should have enabled Antonio to split the defence and get a shot off or at least make a dangerous chance for a teammate.
Instead he dawdled on the ball, took four or five touches and allowed the entire Villa team to get back and into shape.
Antonio then passed the ball sideways and it went back to their defence as a hugely promising move completely broke down. When Villa got a killer third just over 10 minutes later, that Antonio moment carried even more significance.
It perfectly summed up why West Ham sorely need a new striker. And it had supporters feeling exasperated.
But they weren’t the only ones.
Jamie Carragher vented his frustration about Antonio after a watershed moment in West Ham’s dismal defeat to Aston Villa.
Speaking on co-comms, Carragher was audibly agitated by the lack of quality on display from Antonio in that moment.
“Oh that attack has just really petered out there for West Ham,” Carragher said live on Sky Sports.
“Antonio couldn’t get a pass off, it was really there (for West Ham), he was fed a really nice ball into his feet from Paqueta. He should have tried to find him again or maybe take a risk a risk with the pass.”
It was a key moment in the game and nowhere near the level required for the Premier League.
Certainly not for a team aiming to compete for the European spots.
And it was the exact moment Moyes decided he had to act as he immediately summoned Mohammed Kudus to go on, a decision the commentators said ‘will come as no surprise’ given what they had just witnessed.
West Ham fans found themselves imagining the outcome if they’d had Ollie Watkins in that same position.
So it was galling to hear Moyes admit after the game that is the man he wanted to sign as Antonio’s heir.
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