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Marko Arnautovic provided a strong reminder of his game-changing quality on Saturday afternoon as he scored a brace in West Ham’s 3-0 win over Southampton, a performance which induced praise of the highest order from BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks.
What’s the word?
The enigmatic Austrian has had a tempestuous season defined by controversy and fallout away from the field, but he put feelings of frustration and resentment behind him on the weekend.
He fired home in the first-half with a neatly placed opener and doubled the Hammers’ advantage in the second-half by heading into a gaping goal.
It was a timely reminder of his quality with the transfer window set to reopen for business in the imminent future, and Crooks was eager to laud the 30-year-old in his team of the week column as a result, per BBC.
‘We’ve seen Marko Arnautovic in this mood before. The Austria international was electric against Southampton.
‘The problem with Arnautovic is his power surges are too infrequent. He’s moody, temperamental and demanding.
‘But West Ham fans love those characteristics in a player. Paolo di Canio and Carlos Tevez had special abilities but were high maintenance – and so too is Arnautovic.’
Another mercurial attacker
The method is in the madness, so the theory goes. That is an idiom not wasted on either Di Canio or Tevez, and it seems that Arnuatovic is the next mercurial attacker to pass through, delight, infuriate and entertain at West Ham.
Tevez will forever remain a legend of the club for the role he played in keeping the Irons afloat in 2007, while Di Canio’s ethereal ability to produce goals of a spectacular nature and dance past defenders with embarrassing ease always had supporters firmly on the edge of their seats.
Arnautovic is perhaps a tad more on the functional side than Di Canio and a little less deadly than Tevez but it’s easy to understand why Crooks has placed him in a bracket alongside these two greats.
The former Stoke City attacker is an exceptional player on his day and can shift the pattern of a single fixture in the blinking of an eye.
His mercurial tendencies add an element of unpredictability to his game that can leave supporters exasperated; equally, though, he wouldn’t be as effective without that level of fire in his belly.
Regardless of whether he stays or goes this summer, Arnautovic will leave a mark on the club where he finally realised the full extent of his potential.