Michail Antonio anger at FIFA 19 rating suggests accusations from West Ham fans are on the money

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When West Ham United star Michail Antonio hit out about his rating on FIFA 19 he needed to follow it up with a good game against Brighton.

Antonio has been poor under Manuel Pellegrini so far this season and turned in a terrible substitute performance for the West Ham in the 1-0 defeat to Brighton.

Once the definition of everything Hammers fans wanted to see in their players, Antonio was barely recognisable during his latest cameo.

While the forward has always been something of a rough diamond, one thing that was guaranteed was that he offered raw pace, power, fearlessness and workrate.

None of that was on display at the Amex, though, a fact not lost on West Ham fans who had seen the star hitting out about his FIFA 19 rating on Sky Sports.

Ahead of West Ham’s Friday Night Football clash with Brighton the forward was left frustrated by his pace and physicality stats after his overall rating dropped by two.

“I’m not happy at all,” Antonio told Sky Sports.

“Look at this, they’ve dropped me overall by two. I understand I was quite injured last year but are you going to punish someone for being injured? I don’t think that’s right by the way.

“Then they’ve dropped my scores. My pace, 83. I’m definitely a 90.

“Pace, physicality, shot, dribbling, pass and defending. The whole thing is embarrassing.”

Antonio’s comments may have been slightly tongue-in-cheek but his misplaced sense of ability is not lost on West Ham fans.

Hammers fans took to social media to fire a barrage of criticism at Antonio for his performance against Brighton.

‘Legend in his own mirror’ was one particular tweet which struck a chord with other supporters.

Antonio’s USP was his humility, his rise from non-league to Premier League – and even the England squad on a couple of occasions.

But many feel he has not showed the same desire and appetite to succeed since being rewarded with a bumper new contract by West Ham after protracted talks.

Antonio was rewarded with a new £70,000 per week deal last May – as reported by the likes of the Daily Mail – so it is easy to see why fans get their ammunition from.

Antonio’s performance against Brighton was the latest in a string of lacklustre displays.

His quality on the ball was severely lacking when it mattered most as West Ham desperately sought an equaliser while his strength, pace and hard work just was not there.

On this evidence he is certainly no 90.