As player recruitment goes, West Ham’s has been one of the best for many years.
Firstly, it’s fantastic to say the Hammers have a player like Dimitri Payet on board as the French magician is certain to be nominated for the Player of the Year and is definitely going to win the Hammer of the year award at the end of the campaign.
Having Champions League football at the Olympic stadium would be one of the greatest sights ever and as super Slaven Bilic is determined to do that for the fans, fellow new additions such as Manuel Lanzini, Angelo Ogbonna, Pedro Obiang and Victor Moses have also massively helped in West Ham’s current position of fifth place in the Premier League.
However, one player is now a firm favourite amongst the West Ham faithful.
Winger Michail Antonio is an unsung hero and has firmly established himself as a vital member of Bilic’s plans. This is after Antonio failed to get himself into the West Ham first team for the first two months and only managed one substitute appearance during that time.
But after seven goals in 23 appearances in the famous claret and blue shirt, as well as solid performances by showing off his blistering pace, power and, most recently becoming extremely versatile, Antonio has most definitely been a star performer.
However, this weekend sees the dreaded international break take place, meaning there will be no Premier League action this weekend. Ultimately, Roy Hodgson picked his England squad for friendlies against Germany and Holland, and predictably he has chosen average players playing for big teams.
Hodgson has failed to acknowledge the Hammers’ brilliant season so far, led by the likes of Englishmen Mark Noble and Antonio, despite the latter stating that he turned down a call up to the Jamaica national team in order to focus on getting a call up for England.
Instead, Hodgson has called upon players from his former employers at Anfield, as the likes of the mediocre James Milner and Adam Lallana get another call up to the Three Lions squad, meaning West Ham are the only club in the top 10 of the Premier League not to have a player included in the England set up for the double header friendlies.
Quite frankly, this is bordering on disrespect towards West Ham and Antonio considering the midfielder is just one goal behind both Milner and Lallana combined for this season after playing less games than the pair.
For upcoming international friendlies, experimentation is paramount in order for Hodgson to select the best possible squad ahead of Euro 2016 in the summer.
However, his reluctance to award in form players such as Antonio with their first England call up is very outrageous.
