West Ham have a very winnable match-up against Fulham this Friday. For this fan, it’s Arnautovic’s chance to make good on his promise to be committed to the club going forward.
This January went from being a relatively easy transfer window to a mad panic all because of the whims of one wantaway striker. West Ham didn’t really resolve anyone’s issues, because Arnautovic is still here, we don’t have a new striker and it means there will be more stories in the summer. However Arnie did promise to commit to the club going forward. Now he has to come good on his promise.
When a player nowadays says he’s committed to the club, it’s usually a bit of a death knell. It’s a “sure, I’ll play well, but only to get a bigger contract at the next club”. So I’m still dubious on Arnie’s commitment to the club. The Fulham game is huge.
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The foundations are starting to be laid, because he’s been involved in the trip to Spain. Lucas Perez was left out due to attitude issues, and if your attitude is worse than the player who publicly stated a desire to leave then you definitely deserve to be left out. But whilst he can have a quiet word with the players, there’s only one real way he can win the fans back over. Effort on the pitch, no substitute.
We’re not asking him to score 3 goals a game and set up any others, although that would be nice, we’re asking for a shift. The Hammers faithful have a long history of supporting poor players who gave their all for the club shirt, but are not afraid to turn on a gifted player who doesn’t want to work. So when Arnie plays on Friday, because I expect him to start, he must put everything in to that 90 minutes. Or the crowd will turn.
I will always support a player in Claret and Blue, but each player has a different time to expiry. Mark Noble I have an abundance of patience for, because of what he’s done for this club. Masuaku I have less and less time for. Arnautovic needs to make sure he doesn’t go from hero to zero in the space of two months. For me, I won’t have much patience if he doesn’t give it all against Fulham.