West Ham United conceded a late goal against Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday.
Jermaine Jenas has cast doubts over Marko Arnautovic’s ability to play as a striker following West Ham’s 2-2 draw with Leicester City on Saturday.
The 30-year-old started up front for Manuel Pellegrini’s side, but he was substituted late in the second half for Lucas Perez, who found the back of the net within four minutes of coming onto the pitch.
At the time, the Hammers felt that Perez had scored the winning goal for them, but Foxes winger Harvey Barnes scored in injury time to snatch a point for his team.
Speaking to Match of the Day on BBC One (20/04/2019 at 11:25 pm), former Tottenham midfielder Jenas spoke about Arnautovic’s troubles as a number nine.
“This guy Arnautovic is a top player, but he doesn’t think like a striker,” Jenas told Match of the Day. “Little lay off from Antonio, but now get yourself into the box.
“His first thought is never to get into that six-yard box, find those scrappy goals, those tap-ins. He’s always drifting towards the edge of the box – to progress I think they need to go and find a number nine.”
Alan Shearer added: “Totally agree with what he’s saying there, but what I would say is half the Premier League are looking for that striker.”
Last season, following the appointment of David Moyes in November, the Scot decided to move Arnautovic from a wide role to a more central role.
At the time, and for the start of this campaign, that move seemingly worked as he looked like a different player and couldn’t stop scoring for the East London club.
But since January, he has not been himself and he has struggled to prove his worth to his team and has not found the back of the net since their home clash against Brighton.
Over the course of the season, he has played 25 league matches for his side, scoring seven goals and supplying his teammates with three assists [transfermarkt].
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