Phil Thompson heaped praise on West Ham forward Marko Arnautovic when delivering his verdict on the Hammers’ season.
The Sky Sports pundit named the 29-year-old centre-forward as his player of the year at the club and compared him to Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha.
“I was shocked at how inept and disinterested Marko Arnautovic looked at the start of the season,” said Thompson when reviewing the Hammers’ campaign for Sky Sports.
“I covered the game against Southampton where he got sent off for elbowing a centre-half.
“To have turned it around and become such a key figure, a little like Wilfried Zaha at Palace, is really impressive.”
Arnautovic joined the Hammers in July 2017 and has scored ten goals, while creating seven, in the 34 appearances he has made in his debut season.
OPINION
It’s hard to argue with Thompson’s pick for the Hammers’ Player of the year. Arnautovic has been vital to David Moyes’ side staying in the Premier League for another season by providing the goals needed to avoid relegation. The Sky Sports pundit is right to highlight how poorly his career at the London Stadium begun, but since settling in there has been no stopping him. The 29-year-old’s transformation from liability to hero has been there for all to see and just like Palace would have struggled without Zaha, the Hammers’ fate would have been far worse without the forward. While Thompson has picked out the right Hammers player to gush about, there are a couple of others who deserve a mention for their outings this season. The hard-working performances of 33-year-old Pablo Zabaleta have been vital and the displays of teenager Declan Rice have been a joy to behold. Hopefully all three will be at the London Stadium next season, which looks likely to be the case, as the trio can lead the club to a better campaign next year.
