Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp has slammed West Ham United striker Marko Arnautovic for only wanting to play for himself.
Redknapp praised the £100,000-a-week [Spotrac] ace for being the “starman” of the team in their torrid start to the Premier League campaign, but he also questioned whether the Austria international is capable of playing for his team, rather than just himself.
After slamming the 29-year-old for his selfishness, the big-name pundit highlighted whether Arnautovic has the ability to reproduce the form that saw him thrive under former manager David Moyes last season.
The attacker has netted two goals after starting all four opening league matches, but Redknapp still believes that he must improve.
“Marko Arnautovic is the star man but sometimes when I watch him I wonder whether he is playing for himself and not the team,” he wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
“How can Pellegrini motivate him to become the snarling forward who under David Moyes struck fear into defenders?”
OPINION
At the moment, Arnautovic seems to be the only source of goals in the West Ham team, because the other strikers on the books do not seem to be up to scratch so far this season. In all of the matches that he has started, he has spearheaded the attack, but he has not been able to cause as much threat to defenders like he did last term – which is largely down to the lack of balls being played into him. Arnautovic may seem like he is selfish when he is playing, but he needs to realise that at the moment, the Hammers will not be getting their goals from anywhere else. New club record signing Felipe Anderson has shown signs of promise, and perhaps he is the player to help bring the best out of his teammate. Arnautovic certainly has the quality to be an excellent striker, but some of his teammates are making him look worse than what we are seeing. He was a potent threat last season under Moyes and it remains to be seen where that threat has gone, but with the right players around him who can give him the sufficient service, then he should be back to his best sooner rather than later.
