Carrying an injury but he should be in your FPL teams still
Arnie is without a doubt West Ham’s talisman, I like many in the community have seen various information and quotes from the manager, player and others on Marco Arnautovic having an issue with his knee, this has caused him to be yellow flagged in FPL. Essentially Arnie has himself said he has discomfort in his knee and does not train Monday and Tuesday and then is okay Wednesday, so the injury is being managed by the player and club to get him on the pitch each week.
There are elements of this that as a Hammers fan concern me, despite all the signings and improvement in the squad Arnie is the main man, I would be worried if he is not playing, when a player so popular and loved by the fans is not in the team it’s always going to be a negative. It’s more than the goals though it’s his presence , he is difficult to play against and gives the team some physicality, he’s not prolific like Aguero or some strikers but is perfect for West Ham as he can do something from nothing in the 1st or the 90th minute of a game. He can lift the crowd and spark a reaction from them, at the moment at least he is not the player seen at Stoke who would not be in games or not bother, this has a lot to do with his switch to a striker last year of course and he is motivated and happy at West Ham, I think he is worthy of a place in your FPL team if not already.
West Ham have had a very tough set of fixtures so Arnie is not topping the scoring charts or FPL points and his price dropped before going back up and is now at 7.0 , he is the 9th highest scoring forward so maybe not a ringing endorsement, but in this time West Ham have played Liverpool and Arsenal away, Chelsea and Man Utd at home. He has scored against Man Utd and Arsenal so reasons for and against/risks summarised:
For:
- 4 goals in 8 games
- 2 Home and away
- Scored against top 6 teams ( 2 goals)
- Team has had a slow start but is now improving
- Fixtures favourable including Leicester A, Burnley H, Newcastle A, Cardiff H, Palace H plus others up to GW 21
- West Ham’s talisman
- No real competition at present
- Injury being carefully managed
- Price 7.0 is starting price in FPL
Against
- Injury concerns, not training full week
- Not certain that is main penalty taker
- Noble said he gave Arnie the pen earlier to get his confidence up as a striker, but has said he is still clubs’ main taker – something to be aware of
Summary
So more for than against, with my FPL head on I see more upside than downside in owning, of course the risk is that the injury worsens but seeing how this is being managed to get Arnie on the pitch each week I would still have him, with West Ham’s confidence increasing and a few very good results and improving set of fixtures its worth the risk , he is getting chances each game so his goals tally should improve and offers good value in FPL.
I would think West Ham could bring in cover in January which may be a time he is rested but that’s a long way off and for now he has the position as his own with Hernandez and Carrol not fit or available and I can’t really see them starting for a while anyway unless Arnie needs more time to recover.
In FPL terms his main competition at the prices is Mitrovic and Wilson and King although the fixtures are not so good, not forgetting Murray and Jimenez of course and owning two of this group is not a bad idea of you want to invest in the midfield more.
Any questions or opinions reach me on twitter and keep listening to the Planet FPL Podcast, hopefully James has nothing to crow about on Saturday 20th when Spurs visit.