Jarrod Bowen knows the secret of the current Hammers success and is actually taking it to a different level.
It’s well known that David Moyes is a Sergeant Major on the training ground and it’s that intensely hard training regime which is at the bottom of what’s going on within the squad.
Moyes demands the players run and run and run “until they can run no more” according to the winger who typifies the energy levels he requires.
Bowen’s out runs down the right when the team is under pressure at the back are a feature of the counter attacking prowess the team has developed since last season.
Bowen doesn’t leave it there either because his Dad is always looking out for him and whenever he returns home steps up an already fierce training ground regime.
And speaking to www.whufc.com at https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2020/november/21-november/jarrod-bowen-we-work-hard-and-shows-pitch he explained how he works out on home visits.
He explained: “My uncle has a farm back home in Herefordshire and has a lot of land with different fields
“I don’t know much about farming, I’m probably the one in my family who doesn’t pay attention to the different seasons, but I know he has a potato field and when I went home in the off season this year my old man said you need to use this field for a bit of running and a bit of sprinting.
“The ground is so much different, it’s a bit like running on sand, but thicker and I found it rally good for the muscles and ankles, but also it’s really tough to do the training on. You feel so slow, but then when you go running on the grass you feel like a sprinter.
”It’s just been my training method for the past three or four years, with my old man. He is pretty old school and he doesn’t just want me running around a normal field doing football runs, he wants me in the potato field with weights on my arms.
“It’s different methods that he wants to do with me because I’m really focused on my football and he’s always looking out for me. I’ve done it for the past four off-seasons and have felt really fit coming into pre-season each year.”
He added: “The Gaffer wants us to run until we can’t run any more. He doesn’t want us to have an easy day and that’s what we need.
“Since the games when we restarted after lockdown, that hunger, that desire has come through in our performances. It helped us get out of the relegation battle that we didn’t want to be in, and we’ve started this season like how we ended last year.
“We’ve put the two together and started strongly with the fixtures we’ve had.
“The manager’s been really good since I’ve joined, speaking to me about all sorts of things. What I need to improve on the pitch, or what I could do in the gym, what I could do in my spare time.
“To have the arm around your shoulder from the manager brings the best out of you.
“He said that when I joined, that he wants me to play. The way he’s been with me and dealt with me has been really key to how I’ve settled in.”
Great to hear that at last we have a manager who demands hard work and that we have players who are prepared to put in a proper shift.
Never again must we employ a manager that allows the club to be like a holiday camp for ageing and disinterested fat-cat players.
Moyes had to bail out both Bilic and Pellegrini to avoid us dropping into the Championship. Before that we had the clueless Zola and Avram Grant. These overseas managers seemingly allowed the players to do as they liked with some routinely turning up late for training and a general lack of discipline.
People talk about the West Ham way. That way in my 60 years of supporting the team is to have a spattering of flair players and, on our day, be very good on the eye. We also have also always had a very soft underbelly which was constantly exploited by fitter teams and by lower league clubs in the Cup competitions. This weakness also applied to Ron Greenwood’s sides, as he would not sign any ‘tough’ players on principle.
I for one wanted David Moyes to stay after his first stint at saving us, because I remember how disciplined, fit, and hard to beat Everton used to be under his management. Instead we ended up with Pellegrini and his side-kick who squandered more money than any manager in our history. The grass is rarely greener on the other side.
It makes me laugh that people called moyes a dinasaur… He didn’t get Everton in the top four and champions league by not knowing what he was doing but in this day and age of the prima Donna footballer it’s hard to build a great team unless you have the money of the top 6 or 7 teams… You have to scout players for there attitude on and off the field will they fit in a bit like in general life and I think that so far so good… Obviously we would have liked to have signed another 3 world class players but unfortunately we have the three stooges in charge and not Sheikh your money who owns a country… I think he has a point to prove at The Hammers in what will surely be he’s last hurrah and hopefully it will end up us being top 8 every season…COYI ⚒️⚒️
Great ethic. Not literally though – save a bit for the games. During games staying awake, alert and always having a good reason for being where you are is key. Not running for the sake of being seen to run. Fitness training is not supposed to be comfortable. It’s to make players ready for the third half after putting in the effort for the first 90 minutes. Doesn’t always work out that way but increases the chances of a strong finish to a strong performance.
Keep at it Jarrod and the boys. Hope they’ve all got a ‘potato field’ to train on. Often it’s not rocket science.
COYI