MAKESHIFT MICH NOT BAD STRIKER FOR A DEFENDER
MICHAIL ANTONIO makes his 300th West Ham appearance at Wolves this afternoon – not bad for a makeshift striker who started out as a right-back.
Boss David Moyes (top) has hailed the 34-year-old, who remains his go-to frontman where expensive buys like Sebastien Haller and Gianluca Scamacca have tried and failed.
Antonio, who moved to east London from Nottingham Forest in 2015, was initially played as an attacking full-back by then manager Slaven Bilic, before being shoved up front due to injuries. The Jamaica international (below right) is West Ham’s record Premier League scorer with 65 goals.
“Mick’s shown loyalty to West Ham over a long time,” said Moyes. “He’s ageing, like we all are, but he’s doing the job well.
“Every time I’ve sat in this seat, most people have asked ‘when are you buying a striker?’ But the problem is over the last three, four years there’s been a lack of strikers’ availability and trying to get players at the right value.
“So we decided to give Mick a chance to play up front and he’s done brilliantly well for us.
“I often think that signing centre-forwards is a difficult one for a manager. It puts a manager under pressure, signing a centreforward.
“My experience tells me that. If you buy a centreforward and he doesn’t score the goals, you probably lose your job.”
Moyes has also warned midfield enforcer Edson Alvarez (circle) to cut out the yellow cards and avoid harming their chase for a European spot.
The Mexican, signed to replace Declan Rice in the centre, has missed three matches through suspension having been booked 10 times in the league – and the Hammers did not win any of them.
Alvarez is back for Wolves but is also banned for West Ham’s Europa League quarter-final first leg at Xabi Alonso’s unbeaten Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday.
“It begins to have an effect on you that you’re losing him for so many games,” added Moyes.
“He’s been booked too often. We need to try and find a way where he doesn’t put himself in that situation because it affects the team and it has done in recent weeks.
“We’ve missed his presence. He’s been a big influence on us since we signed him at the start of the season. He’s been hugely important to the team.
“I’ve not had a conversation with him because I’d expect him to be experienced enough to understand that you can’t go about getting yellow cards every week. He’s wise enough, he doesn’t need me to tell him.”