Antonio started in a central attacking role against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Robbie Savage has told BT Sport’s Score goals show that he thinks it is good for West Ham United to play Michail Antonio in a central attacking role.
Antonio has featured almost exclusively on the right-hand side of the pitch since his arrival at the Hammers last summer and met with great success in his first campaign at the club, scoring nine times in 32 appearances in all competitions.
He began this season being played at right-back but after being moved forward again he has flourished once more, and has already netted five times in seven league appearances this term.
On Saturday, Slaven Bilic chose to line him up in a more central attacking role, and Savage believes that is a good thing for the England call-up due to his relative lack of defensive nous.
Savage told BT Sport: “Antonio through the middle, I think that’s a good thing for Antonio.
“He’s got in the England squad but I don’t think he’s good enough defensively. Is he a right-back, is he a right winger, a right wing-back?”
In a squad boasting stars such as PFA Player of the Year nominee Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini, Antonio has emerged as another key player in Bilic’s side.
This is not the first time that it has been suggested that the former Nottingham Forest man could feature centrally, with broadcaster Stan Collymore claiming a month ago that he has the skill set to play as a number 10 off a main striker.
It remains to be seen where Bilic sees Antonio’s future this season. Matters are likely to be complicated by an injury sustained to right-back Sam Byram in Saturday’s draw with Boro.
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