When West Ham are struggling to get the results they seek, in an eight day period that has seen nine goals shipped, it easy to ignore some of the smaller, positive items which slip under the radar. Many fans on this site and others have been bemoaning the lack of form of Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen – claiming none are as good as they were in last year’s Premier League Campaign.
The goal that brought West Ham back to parity yesterday might have ended with an air shot from Antonio and Soucek scything in to score- not the most elegant finish – but the build up is worth highlighting simply because two of those ‘out of form’ Hammers players had a big part in that equaliser.
Paquetá, remember, chases down and scraps for the ball out on the left to recover possession and then looks up and plays the pass. Bowen then carried out his ‘moment of trickery’ as described in the Sunday Mirror , with a deft flick and then a back heel in close control interplay between himself and Soucek which gave Antonio the first chance which he missed – but Soucek was quick enough to swing a boot and score. Bowen’s afternoon was rated as a 7/10 by the Mirror, claiming it was partly Bowen’s ‘Captain’s performance’ that inspired West Ham back from the brink.
Go and watch again, via the club’s YouTube channel here, if you’ve not seen the Hammers’ number 20 with the two sublime touches. Maybe no goals for Bowen this week, but he played a captain’s role nonetheless.