Martin Keown gushed about West Ham attacker Marko Arnautovic following the forward’s display against Manchester United at the London Stadium.
The 29-year-old scored during the 3-1 victory over Man United on Saturday and the BBC pundit opted to showered the Hammers player in praise for his most recent performance.
Keown listed several qualities that he liked about Arnautovic before ranking him among the Premier League’s best for his position and suggesting that he was a late bloomer.
“Gary he is so powerful and strong when he is really in the mood and he seems happy now,” said Keown on BBC One’s Match of the Day repeat (Sunday September 30 8:53am).
“You think of the players they’ve had in the past, the Di Canios, the Tevezs, he’s up that, he’s that focal point, he is the fan’s idol.
“He makes winning runs, he’s so strong and so powerful, he has that confidence now and they can feed him.
“Look how he just protects the ball there, puts a strong paw out and pushes his opponent off him and he really is very strong.
“You look at strikers in the Premier League, he’s up there with the best of them, he’s giving them a little bit taste with his pace and saying if you want to get tight to me then you better be quick, cause boy am I quick.
“He’s willing, has imagination, it’s his power and strength.
“He is really going from strength to strength, coming late for him in his career but he gets better and better and he’s important to West Ham.”
OPINION
Keown uses some odd phrases to show his admiration for Arnautovic but it’s clear that the Austrian attacker has a fan in the pundit. The former Arsenal defender makes several big claims about the attacker’s ability and even compares him to Pablo Di Canio who has iconic status among Hammers supporters. However while he does make a few bold remarks, it’s hard not to love Arnautovic right now if you’re a Hammers fan. The 29-year-old looks to be in amazing form, having scored four goals in six games, and is a key reason why the club are still in the Premier League after delivering the goods for them last season. Manuel Pellegrini will be hoping Arnautovic’s good form continues as if it does then the Hammers may be on course for a positive season after all. While the 29-year-old can’t do it all by himself, he does seem to have struck up a fantastic understanding with Hammers’ summer recruits Andriy Yarmolenko and Felipe Anderson. If the attacking trio can continue to be on the same wavelength then the future is bright at the London Stadium.
