da poker： This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
da brdice： Michail Antonio came on at half time for West Ham United against Tottenham Hotspur, becoming one of very few positives for the Hammers to take from the game.
On the chalkboard
Having replaced Felipe Anderson, Antonio went on to record a WhoScored rating of 7.8, which was the highest of any man in claret and blue.
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The 29-year-old, who is rated at £13.5m on Transfermarkt, was the player to score West Ham’s first goal of the game, when he produced a great faint before firing the ball past Paulo Gazzaniga.
He carried a threat outside of that though, completing all three of his attempted dribbles, making one key pass and taking three shots, two of which were on target.
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Moving forward
This was Antonio’s first involvement for West Ham since he was forced off eight minutes into the Carabao Cup win over Newport County in August, meaning he has missed nine Premier League games.
That he was so lively after such a long lay-off will be highly encouraging for Manuel Pellegrini, as the Chilean looks for a solution to end the club’s eight-game winless run in all competitions.
Antonio has shown that he could be the man to help do this – as well as Lukasz Fabianski when he returns – through that performance.
The player who could benefit most from the 29-year-old’s reintroduction is Sebastien Haller, who has struggled in recent weeks, having now gone five league games in a row without a single goal or assist.
Having the lively Antonio up alongside him could help to bring out the side of the Frenchman that saw him bag a brace against Watford.
Overall, it should be a bonus to have Antonio back fit and available, meaning his reintroduction is one of the few good things remember the Spurs game by.
In other news, one of Antonio’s fellow attackers was criticised by fans for his performance against Spurs.