Simply telling Marko Arautovic to "run about a bit" helped improve the striker's standing with West Ham fans according to David Moyes.
The Scot, who succeed Slaven Bilic, spent six months in charge of West Ham from November 2017 to the end of that season.
Arnautovic had been signed by the club four months previously from Stoke but West Ham fans were mostly unimpressed with the Austrian's attitude.
"Marko Arnautovic was always a really good player," Moyes said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
I used watched him at Stoke, he played against us a lot when I was manager of Everton or United.
He was always someone who you knew had an ability to go past you but it was always not that often - it was maybe when he wanted to.
There was a period when I took over at West Ham that the supporters weren't having Marko. He was a big signing, they'd spent big money on him.
It was simple, I said, 'Nobody's liking you at the minute. Why don't you run about a bit, Marko? People will change their minds.' It wasn't much more than that.
Suddenly, before you know it, the crowd were cheering him for chasing the goalkeeper down and pressing. He had a period in the Premier League, it was probably November to January, where he was having the most sprints of any player in the Premier League. Running harder, sprinting faster than anyone in the Premier League.
Moyes believes that once Arnautovic transitioned to a central striker, he began to flourish.
"That's what he's got: real power and pace. He can receive the ball, he can beat people. He could easily play for Chelsea with the way he can take the ball and link up.
"As I said, he fancies himself as a player, he thinks he's a big time player. If you look at his career, he's played for some big clubs and maybe he's getting to the age where he's matured from the early days."
Picture credit: Shutterstock.com
