Jarrod Bowen might be leading the Championship for goals and assists combined, but I still don’t think West Ham are getting anywhere near the best out of our captain. Despite his excellent numbers, there’s something about his performances which continues to frustrate me.
In fact, there have been too many occasions this season when I’ve found Bowen embarrassingly ineffective against his direct opponent. He’s losing individual duels and disappearing from games when he should be dominating them, particularly given the quality he’s demonstrated throughout his West Ham career.
That’s not to dismiss his contribution. The numbers are excellent, but the performances aren’t always matching them. And as I discuss in my latest video, I believe much of the responsibility lies with Nuno Espírito Santo and the way he’s deploying the Hammers captain.
Nuno Must Find a Way to Get More From Bowen
Bowen has proved himself in the Premier League, in Europe and for England. We know he’s more than capable of dominating Championship opposition.
Yet particularly when West Ham play 4-4-2, he can become isolated and struggle to influence matches. It’s something I’ve questioned previously about Nuno’s use of Bowen.
I also discuss the lack of service to Taty Castellanos, how Joël Piroe’s introduction helped transform our attacking play against QPR and why the opposition’s substitutions played a significant part.
Bowen is producing the numbers. Now Nuno needs to find a way to make him consistently influential throughout matches, rather than relying on moments of quality.
Back to basics with Bowen. Play positively. Give him the ball and all support going forward. Help him as he goes with forward movement from everyone. Give him options so that wherever he kicks it, its in a good place. Support needs to get involved and not just trot behind and applauding. All of our players need to be active and creating havoc with the opponents.
He has had support in many games but unfortunately it has been behind him. That is not helpful.
COYI