Patrick Bamford cited by pundit amid ‘crazy’ West Ham transfer claim
West Ham are “paying the price” for relying too heavily on Michail Antonio, according to Kevin Phillips.
The 2000 European Golden Shoe winner, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, insisted the Hammers should have signed another striker in the January transfer window.
West Ham’s hopes of finishing in the top four were dealt a blow on Sunday after a 2-0 defeat at Brentford.
Antonio struggled at the Brentford Community Stadium and once again failed to get on the scoresheet.
The Jamaica international is now without a goal in his last 12 Premier League matches.
As quoted by Football.London (10 April), David Moyes confessed that he needs Antonio to rediscover his goalscoring form.
Phillips compared West Ham’s situation to Leeds United’s in the absence of Patrick Bamford.
“They’re paying the price for not signing a striker in January,” he told Football Insider‘s Dylan Childs.
“We have seen it at Leeds as well. They have struggled to score goals since [Patrick] Bamford’s been out.
“It is all great in the early part of the season but when a striker has a dip in form or gets injured, you need someone to step in and score goals. West Ham are guilty of that. David Moyes would argue the case against it but from the outside looking in, it was crazy not to have bought a back-up striker in January to compete with Antonio.
“You could have brought in that striker now while Antonio has a dip in form, which is only natural. They are paying the price for relying so heavily on Antonio. You can never question his work rate or his attitude but he is having one of those dry spells right now. It has been quite a while.
“I’m sure David Moyes would have loved to have had another striker to call upon. It is costing them, 100 per cent.”
In other news, a pundit has issued a ‘Super League’ claim after David Moyes hits out at Uefa.