Bowen’s Ipswich Warning

If you’re a West Ham United fan you’ll know that some seasons there are no such things as easy games. In the Premier League, we are told, every team can, on their day, beat anyone else. It seems that club captain Jarrod Bowen heeds the warnings and has no intention of taking the game lightly or underestimating the Tractor Boys.

In the same vein to last week’s preparation against Brentford, the Irons are watching their opponent’s games video in an effort to be ready. Let’s hope they are more ‘ready’ than last week!

“Ipswich are a good side,” Bowen told the club web site whufc.com “I watched their game against Villa the other day and everyone knows how good Villa are and what they’ve done, and Ipswich gave them a really good game and could have beaten them, which says a lot about the team they’ve got. They’ve got a good manager and did really well in the Championship last year and we know it’s going to be difficult, but we’ve got a lot of things to our advantage.”

Our skipper is well aware that Hammers old boys Ben Johnson and loanee Kalvin Phillips may be a thorn in the side to Julen Lopetegui as no doubt, both will have something to prove against an Irons side in the midst of a period of rapid change and inconsistent form. Bowen says he is “Happy to see Kalv playing well;” But that:” I hope he doesn’t play too well on Saturday!”. 

It will be good to see if Bowen has been liberated a little by his exclusion from the England squad – we hope just temporarily – whilst he rediscovers his form. The selection and composition of the Hammers’ front line is the subject of much speculation with possibly, Kudus playing centrally or even some say being left out altogether. Whatever team Lopetegui sets up against Ipswich, I hope they heed Bowen’s warning and switch on quickly to avoid the disaster of a goal like last week in the minute – from which the whole team then took half the game to recover.