Now do it again, Marko

WHEN West Ham lost 3-0 at home to Brighton, Marko Arnautovic bore the brunt of the criticism, especially from those covering the game for Sky. Not only was the Austrian taken to task for the poor quality of his play, he was also accused of not trying. Personally, I thought the second part of the criticism was unfair. Arnautovic is a player who, even by the standards of most forwards, relies on confidence. When he first emerged at Stoke two seasons ago, the 28–year-old hit a rich vein of form, but even during that spell, he would call members of the Stoke coaching staff at night seeking reassurance he was doing the right things. Arnautovic may look arrogant and aloof but underneath the posturing he is a player who seeks constant validation, which will challenge David Moyes as he looks to consistently get the best out of the club’s record signing. Arnautovic took his goal against Chelsea beautifully: the drop of the shoulder that enabled him to find space and time to shoot was something you can’t teach. Moyes cannot carry any high-profile passengers and it will be interesting to see if Arnautovic can put in another high-intensity performance against Arsenal on Wednesday.