Written by : Rob Wilcock

Michail Antonio is a player who’s gotten a lot of stick in the last 12 months or so. Since gaining his first England call-up question marks have arisen over his attitude and fitness. In recent weeks though, the tables have started to turn, and Antonio has proven a vital member of the squad once more as he looks to finally be re-capturing some of the form that saw him catch the eye of Gareth Southgate in the first place.

It’s been greatly documented how general match-fitness has been an issue at West Ham since towards the end of our final season at the Boleyn. However, his issues have stemmed from more than simply that. During the first two seasons at the London Stadium the right back issue, combined with the likes of Tore, Feghouli and Snodgrass all failing to hit the ground running, has led both Bilic and Moyes to fall into a familiar trap of throwing Antonio back into the side before he’d fully recovered from persistent niggly injuries. The likes of Carroll (of course), Lanzini and Arnautovic (more so this season under Manuel) have all suffered due to this desperation and it’s played as big a part as any in Antonio’s form suffering.

This season though, things are different. Yes – for the third straight season – we started off looking sluggish and unfit, but as the season has gone on there has been clear progression across the squad in terms of not only match-fitness, but the players really buying into the methods of a manager who is quite clearly the most accomplished coach and tactician we’ve had at the helm in decades.

Snodgrass coming back and earning a place in the side, the great business we did in the summer, and Pellegrini’s willingness to change things when they aren’t working or rest players when they need it, has all worked in Antonio’s favour. He no longer has a guarantee of being in the starting line up if ‘declared’ fit to play, and that’s got him the rest he sometimes needs, allowing him to work harder and perform better when he’s on the pitch.

On his day, his pace is frightening – he has a better touch than people give him credit for, and despite the fact he can’t finish well, he is great in the air and, as demonstrated with his recent assists against Southampton and in the FA Cup clash with Birmingham, contrary to popular opinion, he can deliver a decent cross when he has targets in the box to hit. December was a long month and in the last two to three weeks, Snodgrass’s run of fantastic form has slightly dipped, and with the winter schedule not slowing down, Antonio has demonstrated not only his work ethic by playing right back again, but by putting in some great performances to reassert his importance to the squad.

With the potential departure of Arnautovic looming, uncertainty over Chicharito’s situation, and Carroll increasingly looking like a square peg in a round hole, and the injuries piling up, it’s an opportunity for Antonio to be deployed regularly – giving us 100% on the pitch and causing centre halves and full backs headaches with his pace and strength, rathar than re-calling Jordan Hugill or spending whatever money we gain from a high-profile departure on another overly expensive desperation-buy like Batshuayi, who, despite his obvious weaknesses, seems to be well-fancied by our fans. Let’s keep any potential windfall until the end of the season and build on the successes from last summer.

If January does pass by with the squad remaining intact, Antonio in his preferred position could yet have a major part to play in our push for a Europa league spot and a first top-half finish at the new stadium.