Michail Antonio risks wrath of David Moyes with "best spell" admission

06 February 2024 , 10:22

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Michail Antonio has won silverware with West Ham but considers his Forest spell his best (Image: Getty Images)

Michail Antonio might be West Ham's highest ever Premier League goalscorer, but the striker considers his time at Nottingham Forest to be his best in football.

Antonio, who is on his way back from injury, has scored 63 top-flight goals for West Ham since joining from Forest in 2015, and was also one of the leading scorers in last season's Europa Conference League as the Hammers claimed their first silverware in more than 40 years. His one full season at the City Ground also still lives long in the memory, though.

The Jamaican international hit 15 goals in all competitions for Forest, who ended up finishing in the bottom half of the league table despite ending the campaign with 71 goals as a team. He also hit double-figures for league assists, while scoring some impressive long-range efforts, and scored four in five games in his second season before moving to East London.

Antonio has enjoyed some memorable moments with West Ham, but surprised Monday Night Football host David Jones by saying he considers the time at Forest his best. West Ham boss David Moyes might also be taken aback by the claim, but Antonio showed his working.

"I'd say probably my best would have been at Forest," Antonio said when pushed on the matter by fellow panelist Jamie Carragher and then by Jones. "Because what I did at Forest, the confidence I had, 15 goals, 15 assists, what I was doing that year was unbelievable.

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"I shocked myself, that's why I'm saying it's unbelievable. I was playing left wing at the time, and I was beating four or five men at a time and putting it in the top corner, week in, week out.

"Right now at West Ham, I'm told I'm not allowed to shoot from outside the box, but at Nottingham Forest all I was doing was scoring from outside the box," he added. When asked where that confidence came from, he said: "It was just playing games, obviously just signing and then scoring goals and it just happened, to be fair, and then I signed for West Ham and didn't get to play for three months and went right-back."

Do you agree that Antonio's Forest spell was his best? Have your say in the comments section

Michail Antonio only had one full season with Nottingham Forest (PA)

Antonio was made to wait until December of his first season at West Ham to be handed a start by manager Slaven Bilic. He would also claim Bilic didn't want to sign him, and the Croatian later used him at full-back for the first time in his career.

While he now plays as a striker for West Ham, he was predominantly used on the wing in current boss Moyes' first stint in charge with Marko Arnautovic playing through the middle. After Moyes returned, though, he moved Antonio into the middle with big-money signings Sebastien Haller and Gianluca Scamacca failing to consistently provide what the number nine has.

The 2023-24 season has been a tough one for Antonio, who scored twice in 12 outings before picking up an injury in November. He suffered a setback during his recovery, but is now working his way back to full fitness.

Tom Victor