The true heir to Payet
THE best way to highlight the influence of Marko Arnautovic on this West Ham team is to note how much they miss him when he is injured. You look at a West Ham XI without him and think: ‘Where are the goals going to come from? How are they going to get up the pitch? Who is going to create that moment of magic?’ In this regard, he is the heir to Dimitri Payet. Like Payet, Arnautovic can change a game in an instant. Not since the Frenchman’s acrimonious departure have West Ham had a player who creates that buzz and excitement among the supporters. He is a genuine all-rounder. Physically he is a machine and defenders bounce off him, but he also has tricky feet and an eye for goal. People argue Arnautovic has not been consistent enough but I can only see his good form continuing. The Austrian has a manager in David Moyes who clearly knows how to get the best from him. Arnautovic will be the difference not just between relegation and survival for West Ham but between merely staying up and pushing forward to a place in the top 10.