Michail Antonio may know all about being a 'snake'.
Plagued by injuries at times in recent years, the Hammers stayed loyal to their record Premier League goalscorer. Limited to 12 Premier League starts this year - scoring just three goals - David Moyes’ side have become less reliant on the Jamaica international as a result. That prompted him to flirt with the possibility of a January exit.
He’s a 'snake' for trying to leave, he should be happy being a squad player. Meanwhile, he’s out of contract in little over a year and could depart on a free transfer. He’s a 'snake' for running down his contract.
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At the same time, he’s past his best. Set to turn 33 later this month, maybe West Ham should have cashed in on the forward years ago before he turned a little bit ‘rubbish’.
While there might be elements of truth to some of the above claims, it all sounds rather ridiculous, doesn’t it? A modern Hammers cult hero, such opinions, if genuinely held by anyone, are rather extreme.
Antonio is not a snake. But he is a hypocrite, having dusted off the same sound bites as above to offer one of the more bizarre takes on Roberto Firmino’s decision to leave Liverpool.
“There is still going to be fans who are like ‘he’s a snake, he should stay’,” he said on his Footballer’s Football Podcast. “Even though he hasn’t played as much this season, some fans who really like him, will be saying he’s a snake for leaving and he should be a squad player.
“And there will be other fans saying he’s rubbish, we should have got rid of him years ago. Then there will be people in the middle saying go flourish and enjoy your career.”
A ridiculous take, it would appear the irony of Firmino’s situation being similar to his own is lost on Antonio. Especially when he had a much more diplomatic response when discussing his own potential exit from West Ham two months ago.
"Honestly, I've not ruled anything out. That's all I can say,” he said on the Footballers’ Football podcast when speaking in late January. "Nothing has been ruled out. There are talks, so whatever happens, happens.
"I've been here for seven-and-a-half years now, become top goalscorer for the club [in the Premier League] and I've loved every moment of it. It's just one of those things. I'm not saying goodbye, I'm saying basically, if it happens, it happens and if it doesn't, it doesn't. I won't be upset about staying and I'll definitely be upset if I leave because obviously I've enjoyed my time here, but football is football."
One rule for Firmino, another for Antonio then? Quite clearly the 32-year-old has failed to read the room and offered the most uneducated take on Liverpool’s Brazilian.
Firmino is a Reds legend. Joining the club in 2015, he is synonymous with all their success under Jurgen Klopp. He has won every major honour going, is an English, European, and World champion, and helped Liverpool end their 30-year drought to be crowned Premier League champions.
Boasting 108 goals and 72 assists from 354 appearances, Firmino even scored the winning goal that saw the Reds crowned champions of the World for the first time. Yet beyond the matter-of-fact statistics, he has been so much more at Anfield.
“There's something that the Kop wants you to know. The best in the world, his name is Bobby Firmino!” Liverpool fans sing this on a weekly basis for a reason.
The Brazilian is loved by all fans and every single Reds supporter will be sad to see Firmino leave at the end of the season. But it cannot be denied that ‘Father Time’ has caught up with the forward and he is no longer one of the first names on the team sheet.
With Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz, and Diogo Jota all usurping him, everyone associated with Liverpool would have been content with Firmino staying put as a squad player. At the same time, no-one begrudges him an exit after eight years, and the opportunity to be first-choice for a new club elsewhere.
He is a Reds legend who has delivered so much happiness at Anfield, and is fully deserving of having a decisive say on his own future with the club.
And while Jurgen Klopp and Firmino himself haven’t spoken at depth about the Brazilian’s decision yet, the reactions from the Anfield dressing room tell the full story.
"I think that position of a false 9 is Bobby Firmino's," Virgil van Dijk said after the 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United. "He is the one that showed over the years how difficult it is for any other player to perform it but also for others to defend that.
"As a player, you can't deny how important he is for the success that we had; for Mo (Salah), for Sadio (Mane) in the past but also for the players that still are here, for example, in Cody (Gakpo) to learn from him each and every day.
"But as a human being as well, he's a great guy and I wish him obviously all the best after the summer...He's been so influential for this football club and he should definitely be remembered as one of the legends."
"Roberto is amazing as a player and a person," Harvey Elliott added. "He has helped me out massively. He always has a smile on his face no matter the situation and for me he's been a big help, trying to learn things off him and he's one of a kind.
"Wherever he goes next in his career, that team is going to be truly blessed with an amazing human being and an amazing player. It's upsetting for him to go and today the reception he received when he came on (against United) and obviously scoring the goal was as happy as they have ever been for him.
"We will wish him well but there are still a few more games left of the season so we're not thinking about that. We just need to make sure that we get what we need to do done and we can say our goodbyes at the end of the season which is going to be an emotional one."
Meanwhile, compatriot Fabinho understandably doesn’t want Firmino to leave.
“Bobby is a very special guy. It’s great to have him as a teammate. He’s a guy that everyone likes him,” Fabinho told ESPN Brasil. “It was really cool that he scored today, that he celebrated in that way. Everyone on the bench, on the field, celebrated with him, because he is a guy that everyone likes.
“So he’s a guy who for me should stay at Liverpool forever, who was very important since my arrival. And I don’t want to talk too much about the future, let’s enjoy these last few months that we have of him here.
“I don’t know if the situation can still change, but we joke with him a little. But let’s enjoy it while we have this player with us because he is a very special guy.”
Firmino is a special player and a special person. Boasting an infectious smile and pure joy at just having the ball at his feet, there won’t be a dry eye in the house when he pulls on a Liverpool shirt for the final time in May.
Van Dijk, Elliott, and Fabinho speak for all Liverpool fans, not a West Ham has-been. Against United, ‘Si Senor’ was sung repeatedly before the Brazilian even warmed up, never mind when he stepped onto the pitch. Capping the victory with the seventh goal, Firmino earned the loudest cheer of the night. Antonio must have missed all that.
Genuinely loved by all, Reds supporters don’t have a bad word to say about him, despite what Antonio might think. A snake or rubbish? Nothing the Brazilian could do would ever warrant either label.
The West Ham man has missed the point entirely. While such extreme sound bites might be what is required to promote his own podcast, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Perhaps Antonio should be more concerned by his own legacy and his reduced impact as West Ham find themselves in a relegation battle, rather than suggesting Firmino, a player whose boots he isn’t even fit to lace, is considered anything other than an Anfield legend.
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