West Ham striker Michail Antonio has become the latest player to publicly criticise manager David Moyes’ tactics.
The Hammers have been underwhelming this season with Moyes’ struggling to inspire his players.
The poor performances have put the former Everton and Manchester United manager under pressure for his job.
It has been widely reported that this is going to be his final season at West Ham, with the owners looking to replace him this summer.
A lot of criticism on him has been regarding his passive style of play despite the fact that they have a number of exciting young talent in the team.
Antonio blames Moyes’ tactics in the 1st leg vs Bayer Leverkusen
James Ward-Prowse has previously spoken about his manager focusing too much on nullifying his opponents, rather than allowing West Ham to be the ones hurting their opposition.
And now Antonio has also spoken about his team being very conservative in their approach.
Speaking to TNT Sports (quotes via Hammer News), Antonio pulled no punches as he made it clear the tie was lost due to negative tactics in the first leg.
He said:
“Disappointed and obviously last week we gave them a bit too much respect.”
“This week we came out and showed them what we could do…
“One hundred per cent (it was hard to maintain the way West Ham played in the first half of the second leg). It was very high tempo football, us chasing them down, high pressure…
“We made quite a few chances… This week we made it more of an even game.
“But just disappointed with how we played last week to be honest. I thought we gave them too much respect (end up) with a 2-0 deficit and it was just too hard to get it back this week.”
West Ham currently sit 8th in the league, having won 13 games and lost 11 while drawing 9.
That is not the best considering the pool of talent they have in the team. Perhaps with a manager who is more progressive and attacking minded, those players will be allowed to fulfil their true potential.
The press and the media are unhappy with Moyes
These are the best years I’ve seen
If he doesn’t sign a new contract I don’t blame him
West Ham could qualify for champions league and they still wouldn’t be happy
Be careful what you wish for
I can see relegation battles coming