West Ham have relied heavily on Marko Arnautovic since the turn of the year, with the club’s record signing finding his feet and firing the Hammers towards safety.
However, the Austrian international didn’t find things easy in the early stages of his career in east London after making a move from Stoke City and was subject to immense amounts of criticism in the opening months of the campaign.
Arnautovic was sent off in only his second appearance for the Hammers and failed to score in his first 13 appearances for the club, during a stage where West Ham struggled for consistency and flirted heavily with relegation.
The 28-year-old experienced a turn of form towards the end of 2017 though, scoring the winning goal against Chelsea to get off the mark for his new side and not looking back since- having now scored seven times across 11 games in all competitions.
Arnautovic will be a key figure once again this weekend as West Ham face a testing clash against high-flying Liverpool and the attacker admitted to the club’s official website that he was left hurt by early season criticism.
“It hurt me in the beginning when I heard people whistling me in the stadium because they expected me to do better,”
“But now I am playing for my team and playing for the fans because the fans are a big part of this Club. They pay a lot of money the whole year to come and watch us and, of course, they want us to perform.”
“I always had a good relationship with the fans, wherever I have played. Of course, not all the fans can love you, because everyone has their own favourite. Personally, I have always loved my fans and had a good relationship with them, because they give you the good feeling on the pitch and, without them, you are nobody in football.”
West Ham face a variety of games in the coming weeks as they look to secure Premier League safety, with clashes against Swansea and Burnley following their trip to Anfield.
