Michail Antonio is not an individual who would hide from a problem or two and he knows as well as anyone that’s the position he is in right now.
His last goal came eight games ago in the victory over Crystal Palace although he did manage one for Jamaica against Panama in the Reggae Boys doomed World Cup adventure.
Mikey is key to everything about the Hammers at their best when he is at his and that, it seems to most is critical if we are going to continue our challenge at the top of the Premier League the No 9 must find some form very quickly.
Jarrod Bowen has filled the goals gap manfully over recent games but a fit and firing Mikey is a serious addition to our power play and tomorrow against Wolves would be a perfect time for him to come back with a goal or two.
He’s certainly being marked a lot more heavily than in the past recently but his first touch and ball carrying gifts seem to have waned.
Now he has revealed how he and the manager have been trying to find answers to problems that have haunted the striker for too long now.
“I’m happy people are talking about me and saying how I’ve hit a dry spell,” Antonio told Sky Sports.
“It shows that I’ve established myself as a number nine, I’ve established myself as that striker in the Premier League.
“(The manager is) brutally honest (with me)! To be fair he’s not been that bad. He’s obviously said he needs better from me.
“But he came to me the other day and said ‘What do I need to do to help you get back into your run of form?’
“I said ‘Honestly, I can’t tell you because if I was getting opportunities then I’d say alright get me in front of goal and let me do loads of finishing sessions and stuff like that. But I haven’t been getting the chances’.
“So somehow we need to work out (a way) for me to get more chances on the field.”
Mikey like many CF’s go seeking the ball when the supply thins. The result is often that they are playing a lot short or wide of the penalty area – there is probably a need for a reset by Mikey – forget the build up just get in the penalty area and – don’t play wider than the 6 yard box. That’s what Shearer says a lot anyway!!
Stating the obvious, the performance levels of the whole team have dropped over the past few months for various reasons but the fact that Antonio has no other striker pushing him for a starting place has not helped and he also needs to stop pushing out wide or dropping into the midfield areas and stay on the centre backs shoulder.
Antonio is continually trying to roll the defenders and they are wise to his tactic, plus we continually look to play the long high ball to him and he is getting outplayed.
Our midfield players are more than capable of threading killer passes to him on the deck, but he must choose his moment to shoot, which is not through a wall of players or 30 yards out. He is not the most skilful of players and should play to his skills he has got and stop trying to score worldly goals.