Michail Antonio says he couldnât stop laughing at a video of Liverpoolâs Darwin Nunez âmissing a pushâ on social media.
Nunez has inexplicably become something of a figure of fun for rival fans since his arrival at Anfield last summer. Missing some presentable opportunities on the pitch, he has faced sustained ridicule off it.
Itâs hard to say exactly why Darwin has been singled out so ferociously in this way. But speaking on the Footballers Football Podcast, West Ham Unitedâs Antonio admits he was tickled by some of the things he saw about the Uruguayan.
âWhen we played him away some of the strikes he was doing were like âohhhâ. Left foot, right foot, always hitting the target and making our keeper pull off some unbelievable saves,â he admitted. âBut itâs stuff Iâm seeing on Instagram and social media where he just getting destroyed!
âI swear there was one stage where everyone was pushing each other and I saw this meme and heâs come in to push and missed the push! I swear, it was like âheâs even missed the push,â I couldnât believe it, I was dying mate.
âBut I was like I swear this guy has got 14 goals this season!â
Antonio old enough to know better
To be honest, this is poor from Antonio. This highlights a little bit the issue of having two active footballers hosting a very public podcast.
Along with Newcastleâs Callum Wilson, the 32-year-old often give interesting and insightful takes on the goings on in the world of football. But there has to be some topics which are off limits.
Openly ridiculing a much younger player coming to a new league should be one such topic. Laugh in private, thatâs fine, weâve all seen the videos going round on social media. To bring that into a public space is irresponsible, though.
Nunez is clearly struggling for confidence right now. Although there is some praise in there from Antonio, it doesnât counter the lapping up of the ridicule. Itâs perhaps unlikely that this will get back to the Liverpool striker. You never know though, and to hear two of his peers revelling in his struggles wonât do him any good at all.
Of course, it isnât on Antonio to molly-coddle Nunez back to form, thatâs true. But itâs hardly a good look to be laughing at a young player in a new league either.
For one reason or another, Darwin does seem to have attracted this kind of commentary. Yes, heâs been a little underwhelming since his big-money move last summer, but you can see the potential in him. Fingers crossed he kicks on and wipes the smirks off everyoneâs faces in the very near future. Resiliencia, Darwin, keep going!