Michail Antonio delivered a telling assessment of West Ham teammate Gianluca Scamacca during a recent podcast appearance – and fans have got mixed feelings on the matter.
Scamacca joined the Hammers from Serie A side Sassuolo last summer for a reported £35 million and was seen by many as a marquee signing following interest from a host of top European clubs, including Arsenal.
After penning a five-year deal, he would later describe the East London club as “the perfect team for me” before claiming there was an “instant understanding” with West Ham manager David Moyes.
But the Italian striker has struggled for consistency during a debut season consisting of just three Premier League goals.
Scamacca, who has shown glimpses of brilliance, especially in the club’s Europa Conference League campaign, has been a hot topic of debate throughout the season.
And this week, Hammers teammate Michail Antonio has given his “honest” thoughts on the Italian forward and his form.
Speaking on the FILTHYFELLAS podcast, the 33-year-old began: “I’m going to be honest with you lot, he’s actually quality,” Antonio began. “He is a quality player. The problem is, he can’t play the way the gaffer plays.
“He needs a different type of manager to play his type of football. Yes, he’s alright (in terms of his English). He needs a manager who, he can be playing and other players can come off him and stuff like that.”
Michail Antonio on Gianluca Scamacca:
“With David Moyes you have to feed off scraps, be a fighter… and that’s not him.”
Interesting… pic.twitter.com/7cZtjUVEu5
— Joe Davis (@whujoe) May 31, 2023
He added: “You can see that the ball comes into him and it sticks and he’s tidy. But how David Moyes plays is more like, if you’re up front you’re dealing with scraps and you’ve got to be more of a fighter and that’s not him.”
So there we have it. Antonio thinks Scamacca needs a different type of manager to play his style of football, and he needs to be “more of a fighter” if he wants to succeed at the London Stadium.
As you can imagine, his comments have sparked plenty of debate after the above clip went viral.
One fan said: “Very clear that WHU massively misunderstood the profile of Gianluca Scamacca. It’s like their scouting of him was so surface level: “6’5, big man, must suit David Moyes” — it couldn’t be further from the truth. Scamacca was, and still is, one of the most technically gifted.”
A second wrote: “Should Antonio be saying something about his current teammate on a public platform that can be misconstrued as something negative? No! Doesn’t benefit him, Scamacca, Moyes or the club. However, he is right. Scamacca doesn’t suit our current system.”
A third commented: “Antonio has to have media training … yes, footballers aren’t robots but this is ridiculous, squad morale damaging and basically unprofessional towards a teammate.”
A fourth wrote: “Antonio is spot on, but do I think he should’ve said it publicly? No. Do I think it’s professional? No. Do I think we need a manager who can adapt how he plays? Yes. But all that said, it’ll be strange if Moyes doesn’t act now, given how much he values professionalism & behaviour.”
A fifth added: “What an absolutely insane thing to say about a teammate on a podcast you KNOW people are gonna see “
Thoughts on Antonio’s comments about Gianluca Scamacca?
Let us know in the comments.
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