The woes of Michail Antonio

  • by Tom Kilbey
  • Filed: Wednesday, 17th August 2016

Now the dust has settled on our opening day defeat and while the performance raised a number of questions (such as, is Gokhan Tore, Bilic's number one target this season, actually a fat man in disguise, or, who is responsible for placing the 'record signing' curse on us?) but undoubtedly the number one talking point was Michail Antonio, and his apparent fall out with Slaven Bilic.

Before I go on, let me put this in context. Anyone who knows me will be completely sick of the extent to which I wax lyrical about the pacey winger. My 'second team' is Sheffield Wednesday simply because I used to enjoy watching them play to see Antonio terrorising Championshp defenders, and I was so excited when he was linked with us that I promised to buy a shirt with his name on if he scored. Never have I been so glad to part with £60.

So in light of Antonio forced to play out of position, you may be thinking you know exactly where I am heading with this. But you might be wrong. First, I must say that there has been a whole lot of rubbish being spoken on Twitter over the last few days. Someone even blamed Bilic playing Antonio at right back for Ayew's injury. Apparently, if we had a 'proper' right back, then Ayew wouldn't have needed to track back and hence wouldn't have got injured. I suspect that even Byram himself, who would have been up against Hazard all evening, would not have fancied himself one on one with the the Belgian. This is just not a useful argument to make.

So instead, I will look at the situation from each of the individual's points of view. In my mind, it is clear that both Slaven and Michail are discontent with the current situation, and I don't agree that Slaven has some sort of childish vendetta, or even a Allardyce size bout of stubbornness. Instead I think there are sensible reasons for the sitation that we are watching play out.


Michail's point of view

Michail Antonio is one of the most exciting players in England. He's hugely ambitious too - after turning down the opportunity to play for Jamaica, it's clear he has set his sights on the England team.

He brings something entirely different from what the national side currently has, and based on his performances last season, was surely in line for a call up to fill a position that no one in the country has nailed down for years. Back at West Ham, Antonio has had a difficult start to the season, being played out of position and making mistakes. One could argue that Bilic didn't even fancy him from the outset, and there were signs of frustration even early last season when he was consistently being overlooked for an opportunity to perform.




When Michail did get his opportunity, it wasn't long before he was forced into playing at full back and did so admirably. His work rate was enormous, and he continued to be a threat going forward despite taking on more defensive responsibilities. His attitude and work rate were second to none, and he was maturely doing what was required for the team. This season, Bilic had the opportunity to deal with the lack of full backs, and instead has watched Bilic sign several wingers that have clearly jumped the queue.

Michail can even point to the lack of goals we apparently have in our team to make a case for playing further up the pitch. He scored a number of hugely important goals last season, amassing 8 goals - bettered only by Carroll and Payet. Equally, when he does not play, our quality from wide areas is rarely there. Take into account that Payet and Cresswell, surely our other two best crossers of the ball, are currently injured, Michail's frustration is completely understandable. In light of all of this, it would be hard to begrudge him if he handed in a transfer request in January if nothing changes.


Slaven's point of view

What I plan to say here essentially assumes three things. A quick twitter search appears to suggest that some disagree with these points, but for argument's sake let's agree that:

1) Slaven is not an idiot.

2) Slaven will not have taken pleasure in the fact that Michail looked devastated after being substituted on Monday night.

3) Slaven will surely know that all else being equal, Michail can do more damage further up the pitch, than in defence.

What people fail to remember is that Michail played at defence a few times last season with success. He did the basics right, and was solid defensively. While we would all prefer he was playing higher up the park, once Jenkinson returned to Arsenal, it was generally accepted that he was performing fairly well. This was during a period in the season when we were being heavily tipped for a Top 4 finish - we were winning matches. In essence, there was no massive issue with Antonio in the right back position.

What we've seen this season is something slightly different. In the away leg against Domzale, it's difficult to argue that Antonio was doing anything other than protesting against playing in defence by, well, not playing there. The holes in our defence that evening were ridiculous, and he and would not have put a performance like that in last season - just take a look at some of his performances at right back last season. I promise you'll find that for the most part, he was a dependable and solid right back.




Now take a look at his performance at Stamford Bridge. After hanging on to the clean sheet in the first half, Slaven would undoubtedly have told his players to settle down, make it difficult for Chelsea for play, and most importantly to avoid making any mistakes. Imagine his frustration, then, when barely before his words had stopped echoing around the changing room, Michail Antonio did the absolute opposite.

You do not have to be a natural defender to know what Antonio did was brainless. He could easily have found himself in that position playing as a winger, I'm sorry, but playing in a somewhat unfamiliar position does not suddenly make moments of stupidity excusable. He has to accept a huge amount of blame for his performances against Domzale and Chelsea, and this explains why Bilic was so angry when he was substituted.


So what's next?

Antonio has to get his head down. I absolutely believe that he has a future at the club. Slaven has flirted with the idea of playing three at the back in the past, and Antonio is a fantastic asset to have when this is the chosen tactic. Not to mention our injury record, along with the fact that Tore looks entirely unfit and nowhere near good enough, means that Antonio could soon find himself our main winger once again.

I think he needs to return to his attitude he had last season where he did what was required for the team. If he does this, he will win back the respect of his manager, and put him in a good position for selection. A lack of application and motivation when called upon is not the answer, and he is surely professional enough to know that. In turn and in time, I have faith that Bilic will surely will reward Michail with the opportunities further up the pitch he dearly craves.

Let me know what you think - contact me at @tom29whu.

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