West Ham United winger Michail Antonio was explaining how he wanted to remain in Manuel Pellegrini’s starting line-up.
Antonio was surprisingly selected to start for West Ham in their first match of the season against Liverpool, but he failed to impress.
The winger was one of West Ham’s worse performers as they slipped to a 4-0 defeat against Liverpool.
And West Ham’s official website did him no favours, with the interview they published.
Antonio said that he wanted to keep his place in the starting line-up in future weeks, and that he was determined not to drop out of the side.
“I managed to get a start for the first game of the season and you need those players behind you who will threaten your position because it makes you want to play better and fight to stay in the team,” he said.
“I’m determined to keep my position. I’ve shown by playing in multiple positions that I just want to play and hopefully I can keep the shirt.”
However, the comments may have been ill-timed, after a performance which saw him take on board a great deal of criticism.
West Ham do have other options available to them, and it would be a shock of Antonio, who is on a £60,000-a-week contract (The Sun), retains his place when Pellegrini’s side take on Bournemouth at the weekend.
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