West Ham star still desperate to fix high-profile fallout with Spurs man Richarlison with ‘my boy’ comment

West Ham United star Michail Antonio has shared his admiration for Ange Postecoglou and the brand of football the Aussie has got Tottenham Hotspur playing since taking the managerial role this summer.

Spurs have been the surprise package in the Premier League so far this term with a free-flowing style of football leading to an unbeaten start and an early rise to second place after the first five fixtures.

Many feared the North London side may struggle without talisman Harry Kane and questioned whether Postecoglou would manage the step up to the Premier League from the Scottish Premier League, where he worked at Celtic.

Last weekend Spurs netted two extra-time goals to defeat struggling Sheffield United 2-1 and the performance caught the eye of Antonio, who will first face West Ham's London rivals on December 5.

That match already had added intrigue after Antonio had criticised Tottenham Hotspur forward Richarlison for taking his shirt off to celebrate a goal that would later be chalked off earlier this season. The former Everton man had already relayed via national teammates that he would refuse to shake Antonio's hand after the comments.

Speaking on this week's BBC Sounds' Footballers' Football Podcast, Antonio said: "Tottenham are flames. The football they are playing right now is ridiculous. This manager has them playing unbelievably.

"You know what, my boy, Richi Richarlison come off the bench. One assist, one goal. Sheesh! I am happy for the boy. I said something the other day, everyone is still talking about it even though it was six months ago. It was a joke.

"I always said he is a quality player but maybe he shouldn't have taken his top off. I ain't going to take that back but the boy has come off the bench, got his goal and assist after having a hard time. Getting that goal and assist could have done wonders for him. I applaud him."

In a previous episode of the podcast, Antonio had unveiled how Hammers colleague Lucas Paqueta had informed him of the bad blood between the two stars.

Antonio explained: "I am no longer commenting on Richarlison. It's got to the stage where I just feel like some people are a bit touchy. Obviously, I'm not going to speak about the person who is in the position, I'm just going to say Tottenham need to sign a striker and I'll leave it at that.

"I've gone to Paqueta, obviously they play with each other [for Brazil]. I was like, 'What's wrong with your boy? It's a bit of banter, I don't understand why he's taking it so personally', to the stage where his manager has to talk.

"Lucas is like, 'It's just how he is Mikey. I told him that's how you are but he says 'no, no no, when we play against them, I'm not going to shake his hand.'"