A REINVENTED ANT CAN DECK FOREST
MICHAIL ANTONIO returns to Nottingham Forest today as a deadly striker – seven years after leaving them as a workaholic winger.
And that transformation from creator on the flanks to prolific marksman down the middle at West Ham never ceases to amaze the manager who engineered it.
Irons boss David Moyes may have taken the decision to switch
Antonio up front because of a dire shortage of strikers at the club, but it is one that neither he nor the player has ever regretted.
Following the conversion, the £8million bargain from Forest has struck fear into every top-flight rearguard, combining power and relentless energy with a serious ability to find the net.
He has done that last part an impressive 56 times in 196 Premier League appearances for the eastenders.
Ahead of today’s trip to face Steve Cooper’s newly-promoted Forest, Moyes waxed lyrical over Antonio’s unlikely impact leading the line at the London Stadium.
The Scot (below), in his second spell at the helm, declared:
“When I came first came here
we moved Marko Arnautovic there because we didn’t have a centre-forward or wanted something better than we already had.
“It was the same really with Micky. We were looking for something that we needed to improve and to play in a different sort of way.
“And I have to say he’s been a revelation these last couple of years as our centre-forward. He’s played a huge part in our development.
“He’s been so good for us that it’s not been easy trying to find someone to either challenge or be better than Michail Antonio.“
Moyes confirmed Antonio, 32, has recovered from a niggle picked up in last Sunday’s 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City to be in contention to meet his old club at a packed City Ground.
He added: “I’m sure Micky is grateful to Forest for what they did for his career and he’ll be looking forward to going back.
“He could tell you far more than me about what a good club they are. But, like Leeds coming up two years ago, it’s great to have Forest back in this league.”
The good news for Moyes, who felt Jamaican international Antonio ‘struggled’ towards the end of 202122, is he now possesses a viable alternative following the £30.5m capture of Italian striker Gianluca Scamacca, 23, from Genoa.
The Irons supremo said: “If we played him instead of Michail, we’re talking about two different strikers and that has an impact on how the team play.
“But there will be plenty of times they can play together because Micky can play as a winger.”