West Ham United manager David Moyes will be frustrated by comments striker Michail Antonio made recently regarding differences between Gianluca Scamacca's style of play and the Scot's tactical approach, according to journalist Paul Brown.
Speaking on the Filthy Fellas podcast via The Daily Mail, West Ham striker Antonio questioned whether fellow attacker Scamacca would succeed at the London Stadium under Moyes.
Antonio stated regarding Scamacca: "I'm going to be honest with you lot. He's actually quality. He is a quality player. The problem is, he can't play the way the gaffer (Moyes) plays. He needs a different type of manager to play his type of football. He needs a manager (where) he can play and have other players come off him and stuff like that. You can see the ball comes into him and it sticks; he's tidy. But how David Moyes plays is more like if you're up front, you're dealing with scraps and you've got to be more of a fighter, and that's not him."
As cited by Football London, Moyes replied to £85k-a-week earner Antonio's comments in the run-up to West Ham's Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina on Wednesday, stating: "I've got no issues with Gianluca. Gianluca is a terrific player, a really good footballer, someone who we really like, but unfortunately, he's been hit with injuries for periods of this season. Micky has his own opinions but we're not getting into that."
Scamacca has had a mixed spell in east London and has made 27 appearances in all competitions, registering eight goals, as per Transfermarkt.
Speaking to Football FanCast, journalist Brown thinks that Moyes will have been inconvenienced by Antonio's comments on Scamacca.
Brown told FFC: "As a journalist, I love the honesty in the way that Michail Antonio can go on that podcast and say whatever he likes. I think it's the kind of thing that should be encouraged because we're always complaining about footballers never having an opinion and not being allowed to speak from the heart. So, that part, I fully agree with. However, I'm not sure his manager will be too keen that he said that."
It's hard to say really and there wasn't anything malicious in Antonio's comments; however, it was hardly ideal preparation for Moyes ahead of their crunch European final.
The Guardian claimed earlier this month that Antonio is actually someone who could 'push to leave' the Hammers this summer, potentially provoking some change in the striking department moving forward.
Football Insider had reported that David Moyes may also walk away from West Ham in the off-season, even though they won against Fiorentina in the final of the Conference League, in order to return to his family home in Lancashire.
According to The Sun, Moyes may also be a likely candidate to take over at Scottish champions Celtic should Ange Postecoglou complete his expected departure to Tottenham Hotspur, signalling that plenty of alterations could take place at the London Stadium ahead of 2023/24.