‘They look a joke’: Michail Antonio names the two players better than all his West Ham teammates at free-kicks

By Ben Evans

Michail Antonio has named the two players better at free-kicks than any of his West Ham United teammates.

Speaking on the Footballer’s Football Podcast, Antonio was taking about the Hammers’ set piece takers.

Antonio admitted that West Ham’s free-kick takers ‘are decent’ but don’t have the same quality as the best players in the league.

The Hammers only scored one goal directly from a free-kick in the Premier League last season.

Defender Aaron Cresswell opened the scoring against Everton in a 2-1 win in April.

However, Antonio has admitted none of his teammates are as good as James Maddison or James Ward-Prowse at free-kicks.

Maddison has already struck twice from dead ball situations this season in a struggling Leicester side.

No one scored more direct free-kicks than Ward-Prowse last season, who added four to his career tally.

The Southampton midfielder is now closing in on David Beckham’s Premier League record.

Maddison and Ward-Prowse are free-kick experts

Speaking on his podcast, Antonio said: “There’s three people who always try, Aaron Cresswell, Said Benrahma and Manu Lanzini.

“All three of them are decent, to be fair, obviously when talking about the quality it’s not as good as Ward-Prowse or Maddison, but all three are decent.

“On their day they look a joke.”

Cresswell, Benrahma and Gianluca Scamacca are the only West Ham players to try their luck from a free-kick in the league this season.

Given the aerial presence the Hammers possess, it’s normally a better option to find a teammate rather than shoot.

With the likes of Tomas Soucek, Craig Dawson and Kurt Zouma to aim for in the box, they’re a formidable team from set pieces.

If West Ham had Maddison or Ward-Prowse available to take their free-kicks it might be a different story.

For now, Antonio will have to deal with his ‘decent’ teammates’ deliveries.