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Wils 4:22 Thu Feb 25
Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

Michail Antonio set to switch allegiance from England to Jamaica in bid to play at 2022 World Cup
Exclusive: Antonio will hope to fire Jamaica into the 2022 World Cup

Michail Antonio's chances of breaking into the England squad are tough CREDIT: Shutterstock
Michail Antonio is set to switch his international allegiance from England after an approach to be part of Jamaica’s qualification campaign for the World Cup.

The West Ham United forward, 30, has been part of England squads under Gareth Southgate and Sam Allardyce but did not make his debut. The Jamaica Football Federation want Antonio to be included when they start CONCACAF qualifiers in September against Mexico and Costa Rica.

Jamaica previously tried to secure Antonio in 2016 before he chose to concentrate on England, but he will now have the chance to get them to Qatar next year under head coach Theodore Whitmore.

His form for West Ham this season has helped them get into the Champions League places, with six goals in 14 starts under David Moyes, who has used him as a striker. He has also secured a long-term contract at the club until 2023.

Southgate has brought Dominic Calvert-Lewin into his squad this season and is also assessing whether to recall Jamie Vardy for the European Championships in four months’ time, making a recall unlikely for Antonio.

Jamaica have moved to secure his international future and it is understood Antonio is set to accept their approach. They have friendlies next month during the international break but September’s qualifiers is when Antonio could start with them.

The “Reggae Boyz” reached the 1998 finals where they finished third in their group and had the likes of Robbie Earle, Marcus Gayle and Frank Sinclair in their squad and Whitmore scoring their goals in the win over Japan.

In the current squad, Ravel Morrison has switched to Jamaica after playing for England youth teams and Fulham’s Bobby Decordova-Reid is among their players from the Premier League.

Antonio’s first England call-up came in Allardyce’s only squad of his reign. He was picked by Southgate for his first squad in charge, then withdrew through injury in the matches against Germany and Lithuania in March 2017

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/02/25/michail-antonio-set-switch-allegiance-england-jamaica-bid-play/

Lee Trundle 1:12 Fri Sep 10
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

Michail Antonio: West Ham forward wins Premier League Player of the Month award for August

Well done, Antonio!

ironsofcanada 7:10 Thu Jul 1
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

Former Hammers Ravel Morrison and Blair Turgott are in Jamaica's squad incidentally.

threesixty 6:47 Thu Jul 1
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

At our level is there another striker in the league that is better than Antonio? In terms of actual productivity, not just who has talent. Maybe there are more talented and skilful players but there nowhere near as productive as Antonio is when he's fit.

Even players like Werner or DCLewin are great on paper but I guarantee you we would have been relegated if they led the line instead of Antonio in the 2019/2020 season.

Excluding Kane he is easily the most productive striker outside the top 6 (have no idea what's happened to Aubameyang)

ironsofcanada 6:39 Thu Jul 1
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

Not included in the final Jamaica roster for Gold Cup.

It begins on the 12th. A number of nations are light though as it is relatively late in the summer.

World Cup Qualifying final rounds start in September, if he is serious he would need to be there, I would guess.

Vexed 3:22 Tue Jun 22
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

Antonio would give away a free kick every eight seconds at international level.

fraser 1:13 Tue Jun 22
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

Antonio wouldn't have done anything like he didn't against Everton or other sides that were defensive.

pdbis 1:00 Tue Jun 22
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

Increases chances of more injuries.

Sniper 12:57 Tue Jun 22
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

Antonio would have bulldozered his way through the Scotland defence on Friday. Exactly the sort of different option we need.

the exile 5:41 Sun Jun 20
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

Forget about back-up for Antonio. What we need is someone better than Antonio, a proper striker - someone like Abraham, Belotti or maybe Weghorst. If Antonio is also fit and firing he can revert to the wing, where he is more effective than anyone else we've got. Then ideally we should also get a cheaper option as back-up, preferably someone who can play anywhere across the front.

scott_d 5:15 Sun Jun 20
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

Nagel,

I say 2 strikers for 2 reasons.

1) the additional games due to Europe League
2) our history for injury issues - although this does look like it has significantly improved under Moyes.

If we were not in Europe this season then I'd be inclined to agree we only need one but Antonio will definitely be out for some of the season, in which case I would be much more confident if we had a couple of options.

Darby_ 3:54 Sun Jun 20
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

The reason we're getting a new striker isn't because Antonio isn't good enough. He is good enough at striker for a team our size. The reason is that he's injured a lot and as Canada says, takes a while to get back up to speed again after an injury. So we can't rely on him because of his record of injuries.

I'm not one to think that every player in our team deserves to be in the England team, but I genuinely think Antonio would be a great option off the bench. He offers much more in all round play than England strikers like Calvert-Lewin who have scored more goals simply because they've played more games.

Antonio can create something out of nothing, which a lot of these strikers can't.

ironsofcanada 3:40 Sun Jun 20
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

The qualifiers in the fall give him a decent chance of going to the World Cup.

Assuming the States and Mexico go, there are 3 or 4 teams teams (of the other 6) going for the last 1 1/2 spots. And I guess the top two could falter, Mexico is losing home fans for a couple matches at least because of chant they do.

The Jamaica side is a base Championship/MLS/SPL level with some standouts like Antonio and Leon Bailey and some people in between like Bobby Cordova Reid and Andre Gray.

The tournament he is in the squad for this summer is being considered a B-side tournament by some because of how close it is to pre-seasons and the qualifiers. (Chicarito my get a recall for instance.)

Lily Hammer 3:11 Sun Jun 20
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

Antonio and Carrol both missed out on England careers because of their unreliable fitness records. When fit, both of them offered something unique to England’s attack, perhaps as subs to start, but they were both capable of forcing themselves into the first 11.

I would have loved to see Antonio come on for the last 25 minutes vs Scotland. The jocks would have been bouncing off him like West Brom defenders.

Nagel 3:00 Sun Jun 20
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

scott, I agree that we should be looking for a 1st choice striker rather than backup, especially as Antonio can play anywhere along the front line when he's fit, and can make an impact from the bench.

Not sure about getting 2 new strikers, unless at least one of them can play an AM role equally as well. Getting backups like Ajeti and Hugill is just a waste of money. He'd only get minutes here and there and I think strikers need to be playing regularly to have that confidence and sharpness to put the ball away when chances come their way.

fraser 2:30 Sun Jun 20
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

twoleftfeet - you post like a 5 Yr old.. Every West Ham player should get picked for their national team, and Garth Crooks should pick every West Ham player in his team of the week season..

ironsofcanada 2:13 Sun Jun 20
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

Nagel 1:23 Sun Jun 20

I would add that after he is injured he also seems to take a few games to get going again. So in theory some of those minutes we don't see near the best of him.

Amazing to have when he is cruising but we can't rely on him and we did amazing this season doing so. (What ever happens with Lingard, we have to thank him for that.)

I think he should have gone to the Euros, if only so he didn't become Jamaican this summer or in the fall.

scott_d 2:11 Sun Jun 20
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

Nagel, very true and that is a good point to be honest.

Marlon Harewood scored 14 but that was in 37 games. So his return was not as good as Antonio's if you're looking at goals per game.

I'm am still not convinced by Antonio as our main striker but that debate aside, his injury record is the thing that holds him back the most.

So for me we STILL need to bring in a first choice striker rather than a back-up for Antonio.

Antonio can play anywhere in that front three and with more games to play this season it might actually work in our favour being able to rotate if we had anyone reliable who we can play up front instead of Antonio. I actually think we need 2 more strikers for next season.

Nagel 1:23 Sun Jun 20
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

scott, the thing is that in both those seasons as CF Antonio missed many games through injury. He got 20 goals in 43 starts in those 2 years, so his return is about equal to Bamford's 17 in 38 last season. It's actually 1 goal every 187 mins compared to 1 every 180 mins for Bamford. In any case if a team goes all out attack like Leeds then the striker is likely to score more anyway.

Obviously his injury proneness is a big problem but his strike rate as a CF is fine.

scott_d 1:08 Sun Jun 20
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

It shouldn't be hard to sign a better striker than Antonio in terms of goal scoring record or a natural finisher, but West Ham have always struggled when it comes to strikers - either through bad fortune or just signing the wrong players.

Antonio scored 10 goals last season and 10 goals this season. That is pretty average return for a striker and it should not be difficult to find someone who can score more than that.

Over the last 20 years the highest return in a single season is Marlon Harewood with 14 in 05/06. That says it all.

We don't need to find someone who can score 20 goals a season. Even 15 would be a step forward and there are plenty of "average" strikers who have matched this over the years.

Bamford scored 17 goals last seaosn.
Season before that, Ings got 22 and Abraham got 15.

There are plenty of strikers in average teams scoring more than Antonio.

Personally, I quite like him as a wide forward and 10 goals would be a good return for that position. But as a central striker, 10 goals is not enough.

El Scorchio 12:29 Sun Jun 20
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

He would in all fairness be great off the bench for 20 mins- in exactly situations like Friday.

Fast, strong, good in the air. He can cover all the plan B variables.

However, I think he’d get pulled up too much for fouls because of his strength, and never in a million years has he ever been ‘cultured’ enough to be an England player.

Darby_ 12:23 Sun Jun 20
Re: Ya mon, Antonio's Jamaican.

Wouldn't want someone too exciting playing for England.

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