Michail Antonio says 'players are not robots' amid added time debate
West Ham striker Michail Antonio jokingly claims he will ‘fight a referee’ if they ‘put up 15 minutes of injury time’
- Michail Antonio has joked that players ‘need a rest’ amid increases in injury time
- Premier League games have been going on for longer time wasting clamp down
- WATCH: ‘It’s All Kicking Off’ – Episode 1 – Mail Sport’s brand new football show
Michail Antonio and Callum Wilson have jokingly voiced their opinions on English football ‘s radical new approaches to injury time, with the West Ham striker claiming that ‘players are not robots’.
Football lawmakers are encouraging referees to add more minutes on to EFL and Premier League games for stoppages during the match in a bid to cut out time-wasting.
It comes after games at the Qatar World Cup in 2022 were played for more than 100 minutes, including England’s 117-minute match against Iran, with officials expecting games in the top-flight to go on into treble digits this season as a new norm.
Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in normal time after Leandro Trossard cancelled out Cole Palmer’s second half strike in the 101st minute of the Community Shield last week.
Michael Antonio (left) has been speaking on English football’s new directive to implement longer periods of injury time jokingly claiming that ‘players are not robots’
Speaking in a new BBC podcast, The Players Channel, he was joined by Callum Wilson (pictured) who also added that the new rules could be good for those on the bench
Arsenal ultimately went on to win 4-1 on penalties, while several games during the opening round of Premier League and EFL fixtures featured long periods of added time.
The new directives have split opinion among some, with Kevin de Bruyne and Raphael Varane both slamming the new rules, with the Man United defender claiming he was worried about the burn-out that these increases in injury time could cause.
And it appears West Ham striker Antonio agrees with the Frenchman, jokingly claiming that players need a rest.
‘Don’t they know this is a high-speed game, like we need the rest. We are not robots mate,’ the 33-year-old said on the new rules on the new podcast, The Footballer’s Channel.
‘Imagine you are 5-0 down and they [the officials] put up 15 minutes [of injury time] – I’m fighting the referee. I’m fighting him. We’re going to blows,’ he added jokingly.
‘I ain’t playing no more. Blow the whistle mate. Man City get an extra 15 minutes. Oh my god.’
Wilson interjected, laughing: ‘They can score four, five goals in that time.’
Antonio: ‘There’s definitely going to be double digits this year.
But Wilson, who notably scored in Newcastle’s 5-1 win against Aston Villa this weekend, jokingly added that there may be some benefits to having more injury time, particularly if you’re starting on the bench.
‘But do you not think though as strikers you’d be licking your lips at that,’ Wilson added, to which Antonio responded, ‘100 per cent.’
‘For me when someone says, “more minutes”, I’m thinking “Boy!”
‘Even if I’m on the bench now and again which is going to happen ultimately, if you’re coming on at 60 minutes you’re going to know at least I’m getting 45!’ he added laughing.
Following Man City’s community shield defeat, Pep Guardiola notably expressed his disdain for the new rules, suggesting that a basket-ball type shot-clock should be used instead of 100-minute matches.
Manchester City were held to an equaliser in this month’s FA Community Shield match after Leandro Trossard scored in the 101st minute of injury time
Meanwhile, Raphael Varane is one of several players to speak out on the new rules, expressing his concerns over players becoming burnt out
He said: ‘Players are treated as numbers. It’s not going to change, it’s getting worse.
‘Many players asked me, “give me more days off, Pep” but I said I couldn’t. We have to go to Asia (on tour) and the club needs to pay our salaries, and after we have the Community Shield.’
‘I don’t know how we will sustain it for 11 months,’ he added.
‘I’ve done it before a long time ago in Barcelona, but the Spanish League is not so demanding. I don’t know what’s going to happen. We are going to drop off, that’s for sure.’
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