Tim Sherwood says it was ‘relief’ for Tottenham players when West Ham man was subbed

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Tim Sherwood has claimed that the Tottenham defenders would have felt ‘relief’ when Michail Antonio was taken off during West Ham’s 3-1 defeat on Sunday, as he told Premier League Productions (20/03/22 at 7:10 pm).

The former title-winning captain shared that Antonio ‘loves playing’ against Tottenham because he has six goals against their name.

But that didn’t come to fruition yesterday because Tottenham’s backline, including Cristian Romero, dealt with his all-action style.

Antonio couldn’t win the battle of strengths with the Argentina international, and just before the hour mark, David Moyes hooked off the player for Andriy Yarmolenko.

The Scotsman was pretty critical of the player during his post-match interview and Sherwood backed the West Ham boss for his comments, although, he did admit that he felt ‘sorry’ for Antonio.

“Fair comment, he is the manager, he is entitled to it,” said Sherwood. “He wasn’t contributing too much.

“The only thing I would say is that, if I am one of the three centre-backs for Tottenham, as soon as he is leaving the field then I am like ‘thank you very much’.

“I know, anytime, he can cause huge problems against Tottenham. He loves playing against Tottenham. He loves scoring against Tottenham. It was a let-off, it was a relief for the three centre-backs of Tottenham that he left the field.

“I feel sorry for Antonio, he wasn’t provided with the service. David (Moyes) is entitled to his opinion, he makes a lot of very good calls at the club and you have to listen to them.”

Whilst Moyes wasn’t happy with Antonio’s display, it was largely down to how he was dealt by Tottenham’s backline.

Every time he tried to step forward, bring the ball down or make the ball talk, he had Romero breathing down his neck.

It doesn’t help matters that the Jamaica international hasn’t had much competition for that number nine role this season and no players were brought in during the January transfer window.

West Ham’s extra-time win on Thursday night in the Europa League, then big showdown with Spurs yesterday, is proof why the club needed to dip into the market and bulk up their squad because it may just cost them when the final ball is kicked at the end of the campaign.