West Ham right to rest Marko Arnautovic at Leicester

It was an eventful day and one that could have used a little arrogance and physicality for West Ham (legal physicality, that is) but with a stomach bug setting in Marko Arnautovic was rested for the Leicester match. It was the right move, however, and West Ham should sit him for Tottenham, too.

Austria wouldn’t skip calling up Marko Arnautovic for the Nations League and West Ham are not far enough away from the relegation zone to make the choice to sit him for rest, so his stomach bug was a blessing in disguise in the long run in my opinion as he continues to struggle with a knee injury.

Marko Arnautovic missed West Ham’s clash with Leicester City after he was deemed unfit due to illness. For whatever reason, his nagging knee injury which seems to force a limp out of him every match he plays in is not a big enough concern to rest him so the illness is a welcome surprise in hindsight.

West Ham fought hard for their draw with just ten men and were actually dictating play up until Mark Noble’s red card after a slow start to the match. Fabian Balbuena’s first goal for West Ham gave them the lead that they would hold onto until the 89th minute.

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Chicharito started in Arnautovic’s place and played well all things considered. ‘All things’ are basically that he was by himself up top which we all know isn’t how Chicharito is effective, he was forced to chase the ball in isolation after the red card, and was dead tired after his first league start in well over a month.

Ideally, Chicharito would play in a partnership with Arnautovic or Andy Carroll if Marko wasn’t fit but neither were an option so in context he was fine. He was replaced in the 61st minute by Michail Antonio.

Antonio was after some redemption and despite missing some golden chances I think he actually earned it here. Much like Chicharito, Antonio was isolated up top for 30+ minutes of game time which featured continuous sprints into the backline and aerial duels all the while having little to no support.

Arnautovic was missed, sure, but Antonio and Chicharito didn’t leave West Ham fans cheated on effort which was nice and reaffirming to see.

With Tottenham up midweek at the London Stadium for the next round of the Carabao Cup, I firmly believe Manuel Pellegrini should sit Arnautovic in this match. Have him training in full, have him at the match even as a bench player, but if you can avoid using him – do it.

I would even accept him being restricted to just 45 minutes of game time to keep his match rhythm but pull him at the half to not risk further injury to his knee. His stomach illness gave West Ham an excuse to give him a match off but of course, their Cup match falls just four days later with a crucial matchup against Burnley waiting on the weekend.

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West Ham will need their stud striker to be fit an firing on all cylinders for that Burnley game as three points in this stretch of fixtures could prove extremely helpful. Rest Arnie if you can for Tottenham, fake a stomach bug even, just keep him off the pitch unless you really need him.