West Ham United’s Michail Antonio scored the winner against Bournemouth.
West Ham’s Michail Antonio looks dejected
West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic has stated that Michail Antonio will be needed at both right-back and on the wing and must make sacrifices for the team, the Telegraph reports.
The forner Nottingham Forest player featured at right-back during the latter few months of last season, though he has since come out and stated his intentions to play further forward.
Antonio is a powerful winger who can come up with key goals, such as his late winner against Bournemouth as he got on the end of Gokhan Tore’s cross to secure the Hammers’ first win at the Olympic Stadium.
West Ham United’s Michail Antonio scores their first goal
But the club’s shortage of fullbacks means he will also be tasked with playing in defence, with Bilic telling reporters of the message he told Antonio ahead of the campaign.
“I have told him it is going to be a mix. I expect my players to be humble and sacrifice individually for the sake of the team, which we did last year,” Bilic told the Telegraph.
Antonio didn’t have the best of times at right-back against Chelsea, conceding the penalty which led to the Blues’ opener before being hauled off moments later while displaying a poor reaction.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic before the game
Bilic admits his player acted poorly, but ultimately he believes Antonio has the quality to feature in either position, adding: “Against Chelsea, as a winger in that position after 60 minutes of the game you simply can’t do that. But it’s a game of mistakes and, as I said, he’s a brilliant lad, a brilliant professional.
“And I told him before the season that he’s going to play probably a mix of those two positions, but for me he’s got the quality for both of them.”
Antonio has made 28 Premier League appearances for West Ham since joining the club, scoring nine goals.
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