Nuno Espirito Santo has admitted Wolverhampton Wanderers couldn’t deal with Michail Antonio during their 4-0 thrashing by West Ham United on Sunday while speaking to the club’s official website.
Not that long ago, this most versatile of footballers was filling in at right-back.
It speaks volumes about not only Antonio’s adaptability and attitude but also his tactical intelligence that, at the age of 30, he has adapted to a new position with consummate ease.
A winger by trade, Antonio produced a classic centre-forward’s performance during a stunning 4-0 thrashing of last season’s Europa League quarter-finalists, running England international Conor Coady ragged during arguably West Ham’s finest performance of the David Moyes era.
“Antonio caused us numerous problems. Each time they went for an attack, it was a chance on goal,” a shell-shocked Nuno said after the game.
“We were not playing fast enough and defensively we made mistakes that they punished.
“We played very, very bad. We made mistakes, we didn’t play good and West Ham were better than us. Since the beginning, we were defensively very bad.
“It was numerous factors. Lack of concentration, anxiety and mistakes. No organisation, something we have to look at and improve. We were not able to break them and in the second-half, very bad.”
Antonio might not have got on the scoresheet at the London Stadium but that shouldn’t distract from a display full of pace, skill and exceptional hold-up play.
Jarrod Bowen hit the net twice, however, as West Ham put a usually well-drilled Wolves to the sword, with Sebastian Haller and Tomas ‘the new Fellaini’ Soucek also finding a way past a beleaguered Rui Patricio in goal.
West Ham have now scored 13 times in their last four games in all competitions.
West Ham’s record transfers
- Sebastien Haller
£45 million
- Felipe Anderson
£41.5 million
- Marko Arnautovic
£25 million
- Pablo Fornals
£24 million
- Issa Diop
£22 million
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