Stuart Pearce claims Marko Arnautovic has ‘diminished’ at West Ham United

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West Ham United were beaten at home by Everton in the Premier League on Saturday.

Stuart Pearce has claimed that Marko Arnautovic has ‘diminished’ at West Ham as he slated his ‘lacklustre’ display during his side’s 2-0 defeat to Everton on Saturday.

The 29-year-old has hit the rocks since the turn of the year, with his future and lack of form all contributing to him not finding the back of the net since his brace against Brighton at the start of January.

At the weekend, the Hammers were deservedly beaten at home by Marco Silva’s side, with Arnautovic starting the game and then being subbed off by his manager.

Speaking to talkSPORT (30/03/2019 at 7:15 pm), Pearce believes Arnautovic has gone backwards since the transfer speculation surrounding his future in January.

“Not scored for three months,” Pearce told talkSPORT. “He was integral at West Ham last season and at the start of this season. His threat has diminished since January and this transfer scenario or whatever you want to call it.

“Is it today [his problems/ bad form] or is it the fact that he’s been unsettled? He’s loved here as a player, he did fantastic things last year and scored the goals this year. And all of a sudden it’s just unhinged his game.

“It’s a real frustration thing really [Arnie’s reaction after coming off]. He was poor today and the longer the game went on, the worse he got. Very lacklustre performance by him and West Ham rely on the likes of him and Anderson to set them alive going forward.”

During the winter transfer window, Arnautovic wanted to move to China, but that deal didn’t materialise with his desire to leave not sitting well with the supporters, as reported by BBC Sport.

Since all that talk, he has struggled to replicate the form from the early part of the campaign which saw him win plaudits from pundits and fans alike.

The Austria international moved to the London Stadium during the summer of 2017 when the East London club paid Stoke City £20 million for his services [BBC Sport].

Over that period, he has played 60 games for the Irons, finding the back of the net on 19 occasions and supplying his teammates with 11 assists [transfermarkt].