OPINION
Stephen Warnock will surely raise West Ham eyebrows as when analysing their form he cited the absence of Andriy Yarmolenko as being a key reason to why they have struggled.
The pundit was asked why the Hammers had struggled to deliver the goods in recent weeks and was asked why the Hammers had been so inconsistent across the board.
This prompted Warnock to refer to Marko Arnautovic’s loss of form but also to point out that he believes Yarmolenko had been a noticeable miss for his side.
“The Arnautovic situation wouldn’t have helped, the knock-on effect, he hasn’t played well he was their go to guy,” said Warnock on Football Centre (Sky Sports News, Friday April 5th, 11:51am).
“The form…well losing Yarmolenko as well, he was pivotal to their form early on in the season.”
The Ukrainian international hasn’t featured since October 20th after suffering a serious injury, and it’s weird to hear his name mentioned.
While Yarmolenko showed glimpses of his talent in the 10 outings he managed to make for the Hammers before suffering an injury, he didn’t set the world on fire.
In fact there was at least a couple of displays where supporters would have been questioning whether the 29-year-old would be a success at the London Stadium.
Also it’s worth noting that out of the nine league matches Yarmolenko featured in, he was on the losing side six times.
All the losses weren’t directly the result of the 29-year-old not delivering the goods, but it does mean it’s hard to understand why Warnock thinks the winger being pivotal to the club’s early season form is important to mention, as Manuel Pellegrini’s side hardly racked up a positive result in this period.
Whether Yarmolenko not featuring as of late has made Warnock view the player’s past performances through rose-tinted glasses is arguable, but one thing is for sure, his remarks will certainly raise eyebrows among the Hammers’ faithful.
