MARKO THINKS HE’S AS GOOD AS ZLATAN, THAT’S WHY I LOVE HIM
THERE is one thing you must know about Marko Arnautovic if you want to understand what makes him tick: he believes he’s the best player in the world. Marko splits opinion, but I love him. I really do. He is a maverick and unpredictable, but those traits are endearing. When he went to West Ham, I knew straight away their fans would love him and it is great to see he is flying. The goal he set up for Andriy Yarmolenko to open the scoring in last Sunday’s 3-1 win over Everton had me thinking back to the night I got my 100th in the Premier League against the same team in February 2017: the run into the left channel and the ball across the area was almost a carbon copy. I was gutted when he left Stoke and I don’t think we would be in the position we are now if he had stayed with the club for another year. He’s top-class and could literally play for any team in the Premier League, he’s got such ability. Chelsea, certainly, won’t take him for granted tomorrow. What Marko has struggled with is consistency. I’m convinced that’s the only reason the top sides have not taken him. If he strings together some of the performances he’s shown over two seasons, West Ham are going to find plenty of clubs will come in for him. The set-up at West Ham, however, clearly suits him and they know how to treat Marko, having made him captain when Mark Noble was missing. He’s got a platform to attack and enjoy himself in the final third, which is good because I wouldn’t say tracking back is his forte! He just needs to be let loose near the opposition goal and some of the stats Marko has produced so far in 2018 are remarkable. Be clear, though, it is not a fluke he finds himself alongside Mohamed Salah, David Silva and Harry Kane for goal involvement in 2018. On his day, he can be world-class. He models himself on Zlatan Ibrahimovic and genuinely thinks he is up there with him. Whether you agree or not, you can’t dispute he is entertaining. Right now, he’s at the perfect club to prosper.