Someone might need to take the microphone away from Michail Antonio if he is to save his West Ham and Premier League career.
West Ham forward Michail Antonio has been a fantastic servant for the club.
Antonio has played all manner of positions for the Hammers.
And he’s scored all manner of important goals, making some history in the process as West Ham’s current leading goalscorer of the Premier League era.
The Jamaican has undoubtedly been one of West Ham’s best value signings of the modern era after arriving for just £7.5m from Notts Forest back in 2015.
He turns 34 in a few weeks, though, and looks to be in the twilight of his West Ham career now.
Watch us wreck the Mic
Many fans feel Antonio should have been replaced with a top level striker some years ago now.
But the player has always insisted he still has plenty left in the tank. He even publicly admitted he has come close to joining Premier League rivals Everton and Wolves in previous windows.
With more than one eye on a career in the media, Antonio has done more podcasts and TV appearances than he has scored goals for West Ham in the last couple of years.
And while we all love players being honest and not churning out the same inane, robotic cliches week in, week out, sometimes he really doesn’t help himself.
Now West Ham star Antonio has made a baffling admission that will surely see him sold.
Antonio must choose his words more carefully
After a terrible performance in his first game back after injury at Forest, Antonio was on the bench for the win over Brentford.
He came on as a second half substitute on the left wing. But some fans were critical of his lack of workrate despite being “fresh legs”. It nearly cost West Ham a goal in one particular Bees attack as Antonio just stopped running, letting his man get in the box.
Speaking on the latest Footballer’s Football podcast, Antonio has admitted he now struggles come on as a sub and make an impact or get up and down the wing having been a striker for the last few years.
So much so he was left in fits of coughs after playing for less than 20 minutes.
And he says David Moyes was screaming at him about from the touchline.
‘I had fits of coughs’
“Obviously I didn’t start but I contributed,” Antonio said.
“Left wing and that! Like bloody hell.
“I’ve said this on the pod many times, coming on is a myth. I mean one run and after that I was done. Listen sub me, sub me, I’m blowing now. I’d caught up where Lucas (Paqueta) is (after 75 minutes) in five minutes. Take me off mate, my God! Especially in that game where it’s end to end and they’re just going for it.
“Running with the ball is probably one of the hardest things to do because it takes your energy, rapid time.
“(Moyes was shouting at me) ‘Drive, drive, drive – keep going, you give in, you give in’. At the end of the game yea I had fits of coughs, my lungs weren’t ready!”
We love Michy as a character and a lot of what he says is light-hearted.
But with the forward likely to be looking for a new club in the summer, it’s perhaps not the wisest admission.
And even if he remains with the Hammers into a testimonial year, he’s hardly convincing anyone he’s worth keeping as an impact sub. Especially if the manager leaves in the summer.
In fairness Antonio has been out for three months. So he needs to work his way back to full fitness.
But West Ham may now come to the realisation that time has come to part ways with a great servant and look to younger, fitter players for the future.
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