Premier League

West Ham United: Two potential knock-on effects of Michail Antonio’s fitness concerns

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Image for West Ham United: Two potential knock-on effects of Michail Antonio’s fitness concerns

David Moyes has revealed his concerns over the number of games that Michail Antonio is playing for both club and country, especially as he did not get a full rest over the recent winter break that West Ham United had recently due to his commitments to the Jamaican national team.

West Ham have not signed a striker since the summer of 2019 and that was club-record signing Sebastien Haller, who only managed to score 14 goals in 54 appearances before being shipped on last year by Moyes.

However, despite Haller being moved on, the Hammers have never replaced him and brought in sufficient cover for Antonio, who has been impressive over the last few seasons when deployed as an out-and-out striker, with the forward notching 10 goals in his last two campaigns, while he is currently on eight this season. But that overreliance could now finally come back to haunt them.

So what could be in store for West Ham as a result of their failure to source backup for Antonio?

Big injury risk for West Ham

It’s no secret that Antonio has not had the cleanest bill of health over recent years, with the striker picking up several muscular injuries, and now that he is a regular for Jamaica as West Ham prepare to get back into Europa League action soon, his game time will have to be very carefully managed.

Will West Ham's lack of transfers cost them top six?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Antonio only featured in three Europa League group stage matches, such is the need to protect the club’s only main striker option, but with the Jamaican national side going for World Cup qualification, how West Ham would like them to manage this is likely to be the last thing on their mind, which was evident as Antonio played 220 minutes in a week for his country.

This was very annoying for Moyes, who told The Guardian: ‘He has been away a couple of times now and I’ve had concerns about it, yes, because it is new to him. It is not something he has been doing since he was 21 or 22 or something like that.’

While this is a big problem for Moyes, it’s not like he has not had the option of buying strikers in the past, as the Hammers launched a late bid for Darwin Nunez at Benfica, who has 21 goals in 26 appearances this season, but with it being close to the deadline, maybe it was never likely to materialise, so the question of why they didn’t move sooner could well be rife amongst Hammers fans.

Bowen to be unleashed in new position

One of the players of the season has without a doubt been Jarrod Bowen, with the winger managing to register six goals and nine assists in the league, which has helped the Hammers maintain their push for the top four while Antonio has been experiencing some low points in terms of his goalscoring form.

With West Ham not having another recognised striker besides Antonio, it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise to have Bowen being unleashed as a striker who can either drop deep or run in behind – a role he’s played before under Moyes.

Despite being signed as a winger, deploying Bowen through the middle may not be that bizarre of a decision by Moyes if Antonio needs a rest, as he clearly has an eye for goal this season, with the winger racking up the second-most shots and the most shots on target within the Hammers squad this season (as per FBRef), and with his pace, he could prove a real threat for defenders.

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It would not just be his pace that would terrify defenders, though, given his ability to drop deeper and act as a playmaker. This season, he’s attempting 1.8 dribbles per game (via WhoScored) – the most within the squad – and is averaging 2.4 shots per game, the second-most only behind Antonio, with the same amount as the striker, 0.3, attempted inside the six-yard box as the striker.

Therefore, when looking deeper, Bowen as a striker may not disrupt West Ham’s style of play or tactics too much, which could alleviate Moyes’ recent concerns going forward.

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