Jamie Carragher is one of the most respected pundits in football but he may anger West Ham United fans with his verdict on Marko Arnautovic.
West Ham have turned a corner under David Moyes and have lifted themselves out of the relegation zone and up to 11th in the Premier League
The Scot has the team more disciplined, organised and harder to beat.
But perhaps is crowning achievement so far is getting a tune out of the club’s record signing Marko Arnautovic.
The powerful Austrian international joined the Hammers for £25 million from Stoke City in the summer but endured a torrid start to his career in East London.
He was looking an expensive flop under Slaven Bilic but has turned his and West Ham’s season around with seven goals, four assists and a much-improved workrate.
‘Arnie’ as he is now affectionately known by West Ham fans, is turning into something of a talisman for the Hammers, who had been craving someone to take up the mantle since Dimitri Payet’s departure last January.
After an awful first half the season West Ham fans are just starting to enjoy what they are seeing from their team.
“Marko Arnautovic is a player we absolutely slaughtered on Friday night football (when West Ham lost 3-0 at home to Brighton) when he wasnt playing well,” Carragher told Monday Night Football.
“Arnautovic is one of those players where I look at him and I think ‘He’s playing at West Ham because he’s inconsistent’ but he actually has the ability – you see some of the things he does and think he should be playing for a top club.
“But he is inconsistent, he’s a bit crazy, he does silly things on the pitch, he gets sent off and he is that player who you’d sum up and say – you talk about the West Ham way – he probably sums that up because he’s not going to be brilliant every week because he is inconsistent, he wouldn’t be playing there if he was, but he has the ability and he’s got to put more into it when he’s not playing well and he’s doing that now.”
Because of course West Ham are a small club who have the seventh highest attendances in Europe, are the 15th richest in world football and have the second highest number of season ticket holders in the Premier League behind Manchester United.
And of course the Hammers have never had any decent players before.
Carragher’s verdict was a departure from his usual measured and considered view and jars given he often describes the likes of Everton as big clubs.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
