OPINION
Tony Cascarino gushed about how important Marko Arnautovic was to West Ham and surely that means the Hammers are down for the count this season.
The talkSPORT pundit was asked by Georgie Bingham about the Hammers’ 2-0 loss to Everton and it’s potential affect on the battle between teams to finish 7th in the Premier League.
This prompted Cascarino to talk about Arnautovic, with the former Chelsea player saying that even though the attacker doesn’t have a towel, he’s already on the beach this season.
“Now Marko Arnautovic, you mentioned going on the beach, now I’ve always tried to say that is a bit of a myth in football, but he hasn’t even got a towel with him and he’s on the beach,” said Cascarino on talkSPORT (Sunday March 31st, 9:31am).
“He scored his last goal in January, first week in January, 5th of January in the FA Cup, he is West Ham’s most talented player…if he throws in that towel and is not prepared to work like he can, be an effective player, cause he’s got the lot, and he decides to switch off you’ve got a problem”
Cascarino pointed out that in his opinion if Arnautovic opts to throw in the towel, by choosing not to use his fantastic abilities, then the Hammers have a problem.
Would anyone really disagree with that remark? Or would anyone argue that Arnautovic is going all out for his side? Surely not.
Cascarino is spot on to highlight the importance of the 29-year-old, as without him Manuel Pellegrini doesn’t a top-class forward to call upon, who is capable of scoring the goals needed.
Lucas Perez, Javier Hernandez and even Andy Carroll have all proven to not be guaranteed sources of goals at the Hammers; so the club won’t have the firepower to achieve success if Arnautovic is not at the races.
Based on his recent displays you have to say the Hammers forward looks to have thrown the towel in and due to this the Hammers are down for the count this season, as their likely ambition of finishing 7th is dead in the water due to the 29-year-old.
