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This is not the hottest take you will ever read, but here it is anyway - West Ham are infinitely better when Marko Arnautovic is on the pitch at full tilt.

Even if he's not at full tilt, his mere presence on the pitch is something the Hammers had been lacking under Slaven Bilic and during the recent three-week stretch when Arnautovic was injured.

His return to the starting eleven on Saturday breathed life into a West Ham side who hadn't won in the previous three outings as they beat Watford 2-0 on Saturday.

How important is Arnautovic now? West Ham haven't won a game he has not been involved in since September.

His turnaround since Bilic left and David Moyes took over has been nothing short of remarkable. This was a player who was mauled by Sky Sports pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher in Bilic's final game, accusations of him not trying, not running, not putting enough effort fro a struggling team.

(Image: Christopher Lee/Getty Images)

Fast forward three months since then, Arnautovic has bagged seven goals and three assists and as important is the reception he is now getting from the supporters in east London.

He was being considered a £25m bust early on, sent off in the second game of the season against Southampton for a reckless elbow on Jack Stephens and banned for three games. Then he got injured, suffered from poor form and was emphatically dropped by Bilic.

On Saturday before the Watford game, the biggest cheer of all was reserved for the number seven when his name was read out over the tannoy.

Moyes has freed him up, playing as a centre forward essentially - or floating around where he wants - and it has worked wonders. At Stoke and under Bilic, Arnautovic was a winger, he's not the type to track back runners and bomb up and down the touchline, it's not his game.

(Image: OLLY GREENWOOD/AFP/Getty Images)

Moyes realised that and has found the perfect position for him, where the Austrian can be creative, energetic, and lethal in front of goal as well. His control to kill the ball dead and strike home for the second against Watford at the weekend was a joy.

The manager though isn't letting Arnautovic rest on his laurels and has said before that the Austrian is a player that you need to keep on his toes.

"Well, he's getting no praise, that's for sure," Moyes said on Saturday.

"He's getting told that he has got to keep at it and he is going to be pushed all the way. But, look, we are telling him he is doing well but we are not letting him off the hook. I think being a centre forward has freed him up. He's got power, pace, quality on the ball and look, he's doing a really good job for us."

(Image: Christopher Lee/Getty Images)

Javier Hernandez, who has hit some form at the right time as well, echoed his manager. "Marko is an unbelievable, all-around player and it gives you a lot of confidence when you play up front with a player like him," the Mexican said at the weekend.

"We have a good understanding with each other and both of us scored today. That's a good thing for a striker."

It is a good thing indeed.

The £25m man was blowing a gasket after an hour on Saturday but he kept on ploughing through it before he was eventually withdrawn in the final ten minutes - to a standing ovation which was richly deserved.

He's always going to be a handful on the pitch and off it as well - like his new blonde hair do for example and his post-match interviews where he claims no-one likes him - but with that chip on his shoulder and the clear support of his manager, it can only benefit everyone in the long-term.

Such is the impact, Moyes is saying he has been the driving force behind David Sullivan's change of thought in transfers, with the co-chairman himself admitting he wants Moyes to stay "for years and years."

West Ham are not safe in the Premier League by any stretch but with their talisman Arnautovic in tow, a returning Manuel Lanzini hopefully for Swansea, an in-form Javier Hernandez and a bullish Moyes, they've got the best chance possible.