✍️ Welcome Michail Antonio

[Kialos]

Don't know what is going on with him at the moment but he reminds me of Marlon and his can one minute be a genius and the next an absolute chump. His last couple of appearances have been awful. You can't just pretend they didn't happen, not if you are being honest at any rate.

[szola]

There is a reason he was 26 before he broke in the Premier League, even if he had the physical abilities since he was a teenager.

[FAH_1973]

He just hasn't looked fit for the last couple of games. At Stoke he looked really leggy and wasn't falling down with the slightest touch and looked even less fit on Saturday.

The front three of Lanzini, Arnie and Antonio has looked good but I think he needs a couple of games out to get fully fit,

[Ofuzz]

He just hasn't looked fit for the last couple of games. At Stoke he looked really leggy and wasn't falling down with the slightest touch and looked even less fit on Saturday.

The front three of Lanzini, Arnie and Antonio has looked good but I think he needs a couple of games out to get fully fit,

Agreed. Usually by the 40th minute he looks spent. Either legs/body have hit the wall or he has a virus that hasn't been detected. This guy is not match fit right now. Shouldn't be part of the game plan going forward until he proves to the trainers that he has the endurance.

[carnage]

Throws his toys out of the pram when he doesn’t play where he wants. Goals have dried up which was his only worth.

Sell

Seems like someone within the Club agrees with me.

[hammerman11]

going through a bad patch how about we support one of our better players.

I agree he should be out of the team at the moment. he was awful on Saturday.

arnie Hernandez as a front two

[Exiledin cardiff]

His heart doesn't seem at the club at the moment, and his work rate has dropped to unacceptable level, Maybe a spell bench warming will shake him up,
It could be that he's looking for a move, could easily be a clash of personalities between the dour Scotsman and himself, If a move is on the cards I wonder if Moyes could swing Antonio and a bit of cash for Ross Barklay.

Also Antonio has to realise you get nothing for nothing in the game, no one player has the right to say he'll play how he wants and where he wants, unless of course you Messi? Ronaldo class. Antonio needs to wake up and realise he being paid well, and needs to start earning it

[simonirons]

Not even on the bench today.

[Centre Half]

Overjoyed to see he's been left out today

Hopefully we've seen the last of him in a West Ham shirt

Take his petulance and piss poor ability and hinder someone else please

[bubbles500]

What’s actually going on with him. Either stupidly unfit and blowing out his arse at 60 mins or injured. Unless it’s another Payet and he’s off this month?

[Jumby]

Some pretty extreme views in this thread, I think he's just injured and has been getting rushed back too quickly after not having a full pre season to get match fit.

[ShanghaiHammer]

Nothing against him personally but he is epically thick and incapable of seeing what will happen more than 1 second ahead. Must be sold and will do well in the 'Championship'. Just remembered how stupid that name is.

[libero]

Woke up to see some unjustified extreme views on this thread - and some unwarranted nastiness directed at Antonio thrown in for no obvious reason

I think the clear thing with this guy is that the club is not doing him any favours with managing his fitness and with working out where they want to play him - and that's holding back his development as a player

He's physically very strong and seems to have bulked up far too much over the last year or so. Every now and then a player is so lightweight that they benefit from weight training, a higher weight, better upper body strength and so on. But in the modern day, this is increasingly less relevant because speed is the key - look at what Pep has done with Sterling, or Klopp with the Liverpool attackers. And a physio friend of mine says that over musculation often leads to soft tissue injuries which accumulate and hold back speed and general fitness

Then there's where he plays. He had 3 good matches under Moyse as a kind of false 9 - against teams that would have much more possession than us. It worked because we played a defensive, rearguard action and he was alone up front, not really expected to score. But this doesn't work when we play against "lesser teams" because he doesn't have the guile or instincts of a "real" striker.

And for those who are insulting his intelligence just because of this lack of guile in certain positions, despite not ever having met him, spoken to him, I'd be very careful there. My all time favourite West Ham player was Billy Bonds. Bonzo too was played all over the field, in many different positions. If he had been made to play centre forward on a regular basis, I think he would have been found out in his decision making - but I don't think anyone would have called him "thick" on that basis

One of the keys of a good manager is being able to get the best out of players. Pep does this, John Lyall was a master of this - Moyse has done this with the likes of Arnie and Arthur. Let's hope he can do the same with Michael Antonio - and that then the negativity about him will disappear

[Adam 'The Smudge']

He's decent but hes not a good premiership player.

[Mega Ron]

You're right he's not. He's a very good Premier League player.

[Adam 'The Smudge']

You're right he's not. He's a very good Premier League player.

As he showed with aplomb at Selhurst Park.
His mind's ability doesnt match his physical prowess.

[Rio]

You're right he's not. He's a very good Premier League player.

Based on the last year you could have saved yourself a touch of RSI by not typing Premier

[e17]

Got the whiff of the Baby Bentleys about all of this

[GH27]

A genuinely likeable guy, who we bought out of the Championship for next to nothing, hehas been unquestionably one of our most effective players over the last 3 years. A dip in form due to injuries and perhaps fitness issues and suddenly people on here suggesting we should get rid - I truly despair of some our so-called fans.

[Adam 'The Smudge']

He's been a good fit for us.
If we were any better we'd be shopping in the top leagues not for bulldozers from the Championship,