Moyes on Antonio, Fornals & Europa League

West Ham manager David Moyes admits West Ham will have to cope with Mikhail Antonio’s workload as the club prepare for seven games in just 23 days.

The Hammers head to Southampton this weekend for their fourth Premier League game of the season before embarking on their Europa League adventure on Thursday with a trip to Zagreb against Dinamo.

Then it’s back to England for a Premier League / Carabao Cup double header against Manchester United, before there are more games against Leeds, Rapid Vienna and Brentford before the next international break.

This grueling streak of games will test the fitness of Moyes ‘best players, including Antonio, who was named Premier League Player of the Month in August after scoring four goals and providing three assists in the Hammers’ first three games would have.

Moyes previously admitted he wanted to sign Antonio but says he has been unable to find the right player for the right money.

That has led many West Ham fans to wonder what the club will do if Antonio – now an international with Jamaica – sustains an injury, and the Scot was asked if Nikola Vlasic, an exciting attacking midfielder, would was signed on the deadline, could fill during its final press conference before the game.

Here’s how he responded to it and a number of other topics …

“You’re right, we won’t start me in every game, we will choose. We saw Yarmolenko played as No. 9, Jarrod Bowen can play as No. 9, so I feel like I do have one or two other options I can seek.

“I think it could be Nikola, I’m not sure about number 9, but I think there is no problem if I have to use it there too. Maybe the other guys” [Yarmolenko and Bowen] are ahead of him before he takes on that role. “

“Trying to find someone to replace Me was not easy, but we tried. We found the ones we thought would be suitable, but we couldn’t find them for various reasons. Ultimately, it’s not easy to replace Me, so probably a week or two ago I had resolved that it would be very difficult to find another number nine to replace, so I had to find other ways to get around to get that working.

“I wanted to bring goals and assists into the team and it was not easy to find center-forwards who were available at the right price. I had to think very carefully about how I would spend my money and what I could.” If I had used it all up on a number nine, sitting on the bench while Mickey played might not have been the way to go.

“So I hope that in Nikola Vlasic we have someone who can play multiple roles like we did with Jesse last year, and I thought that was probably the better way right now. We have Jarrod, we have Yarmolenko, maybe Nico when he is called. “

“Well, from what I’ve learned from coaching Spain, I think that Spanish players coming to the Premier League will take a year to adapt. Of course you can name me really good Spanish players who do it have made it. ” I feel like football is a different kind and I think it would be very similar for a British player going out there.

“It takes time to adapt to the culture and the style of play. I think Pablo was probably a different type of Spanish player, he’s an incredibly hard working player for the team who likes to play in every position. So for me he is great it’s really good to have him around, I think he had an impact on the team, we can play him in two or three positions so he was under the radar.

“I’m very happy that he was called up because he was ready for the Spanish squad in the summer when the Covid outbreak hit the Spanish squad. He was called to the Olympic squad behind the scenes, but we made up our minds . ” not to let him go to the Olympics with Spain, he was in and around the Spanish good players.

“I hope he will be called up for the next time and that could go with Pablo’s form and if he keeps scoring.”

“It was really very difficult, but I think it has been difficult for everyone in the last 18 or 20 months. Maybe the new way is to see loads of games in the videos, see the players, and then see you. get as much understanding for the players as possible from people you know.

“So just try to do so much homework. But of course we spent a lot of time in the recruiting office because we couldn’t go to the games where we see players live, but it was the same for everyone in the world.”

“Who knows this might be the way to go now, I’m not saying this will be the death of Scouts on the street, but it could be that more and more people are taking advantage of the analysts and scouts who work from home in the.” Watching TV think, personally I still think about watching games live and watching people play [is the way to go]. “

“We are currently preparing for Southampton [as they are, having won six our of the last seven meetings], We had a very bad record against Newcastle and we beat them on the opening day of the season. You just prepare for the game and go for it. We know Southampton has good players who can cause us problems and we have to manage that.

“But we have good players who can also try to cause problems for Southampton. It’s a tough game away in the Premier League with the crowd back and it makes the games a lot more difficult.”

“I wouldn’t say it will be our toughest game but it is certainly a really tough game when you go to Zagreb. They have a pretty good European history for many years and they were a big club so I don’t think so it goes like this. ” be light.

“We have some players with international experience, players who have played in different countries, so I think it will give us a chance. Ultimately, it’s a new experience for us at West Ham, not entirely, but lately , and “hopefully we can handle it”.

For more of Tobey cudworth, keep following him Twitter!