Antonio: The awful stats

By Simon Leyland

Is Michail Antonio still good enough for West Ham?

What with Danny Ings being cup tied our Supremo probably had little choice to start the 32-year-old Antonio up front, but he had a very disappointing game.

While the experienced forward is the club’s top scorer in the Premier League, it seems clear at this point that he cannot offer what he once did for the Hammers.

He wasted a number of good opportunities against Manchester United when played in on goal and while he has perhaps never been a natural goal scorer, he seems to have lost a yard of pace and the attacking positioning which has seen him hit double digits in previous seasons.

As per our second favourite anoraks Sofascore, Antonio would manage just 36 touches and seven successful passes against United on Wednesday, registering a woeful pass success rate of just 54% which also saw him lose possession on 13 occasions.

Sadly, this is becoming a recurring trend, as he has averaged a 55.1% success rate in the Premier League so far this season, the worst of anyone in the squad .

While he did manage three shots on target, there is no doubt that he should have found the net at least once, but he was once again guilty of missing a big chance for the Hammers.

He has also averaged a woeful 6.42 rating for his performances in the top flight, which ranks him as the 18th-best performer in Moyes’ squad, which again suggests that he is no longer good enough to be a regular.

Former Hammer Glen Johnson reinforced this point in a recent interview reported by Football London

He said: “Michail Antonio always works hard but his form has not been great for some time now. The problem with a player like Antonio, even when his form is good, he’s still not a natural goal scorer and won’t give you loads of goals.

“When he’s out of form, he can run around and draw some fouls, but that’s not good enough in the Premier League. For a struggling team, you have to give more.”