I scrolled past this first time I read it.
How far have we come as a team when a West Ham United player’s nomination for ‘Goal Of The Month’ In the Premier League is commonplace. Think about it for a moment, the other nominees were from Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City. The very fact that we find this unremarkable on first reading shows how far we as a club have travelled in the last few seasons.
Because it is not a ‘one-off- for some flash in the pan super strike, rather a continuation of the finer parts of last season with Jarrod Bowen getting onto the scoresheet so many times and equalling Paolo di Canio‘s club record of 16 top-flight league goals in a season. So he has carried on this year, netting against Crystal Palace and getting nominated by the Premier League for August.
The goal, in case you don’t remember, was when Max Kilman carried out of defence, across the half way line, and slid the through pass to Bowen who shot past the Palace Keeper in a devastating fast flowing counter-attack.
I shan’t wax lyrical about Bowen’s attributes as a striker, you’ll have read enough of that this weekend after his England cameo BUT – get on and vote for Jarrod’s goal, Hammers! You can see the goals and vote here: https://www.premierleague.com/awards/goal-of-the-month/2024-25/august
The very fact that it is commonplace for our goal scorers to be nominated amongst the top teams in the Premier League is now a source of quiet pride for me: Long may it continue that the humble Hammers are mentioned in the same sentences as Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool. This is where we belong now.