The Antonio question

By Dave Langton

Oh Mikey.

It’s been a long time since we’ve had to write an article like this and we have to say that Antonio has been genuinely sensational at times this season.

Against Lyon on Thursday, the Hammers star turned in a performance befitting the very best strikers West Ham have ever had. He didn’t score, but he led the line brilliantly, holding the ball up, bullying defenders, and running every single channel.

Come the end of those 90 minutes, it looked as though he was ready to drop, and rightly so; he’d put absolutely everything into his display.

On Sunday, though, that came back to haunt him. He struggled immensely throughout the game against Burnley and just didn’t offer any threat at all.

When he did go through on goal towards the end of the game there wasn’t really an expectation that he’d score, mainly because of how excellent Nick Pope had been, and as expected, the England goalkeeper saved it.

Prior to that, he was sprinting down the right flank, with a defender looking to cover. Jarrod Bowen was free for a pass. Mikey shot and didn’t score, as Pope tipped his effort over.

It was a shot borne out of desperation from a striker who is just absolutely desperate to score a goal.

Indeed, Mikey hasn’t seen the net ripple since New Year’s Day. In the Premier League, he’s now on a run of 13 games without a goal. He’s only scored once in the Europa League too.

David Moyes can’t exactly drop him because there’s no senior alternative, short of playing a different player – such as Bowen or Nikola Vlasic – out of position.

It’s a problem that the Hammers boss has to solve, though, because on Sunday, it was clear that Antonio just isn’t at his best.

If we are to win the Europa League, and keep winning games in the league, an answer must be found.