I’d always assumed – wrongly as it turned out – that Lucas Paquetá was going to be up there with the best playmakers we’ve ever had at West Ham United. Of course, ‘that’ pass in Prague ensures him near-legend status but his career since has been on a downward trajectory either through stress or indifference: There’s a strong chance we will never know.
So when I saw the headline of the report (below) by sports.yahoo.com today, I did a double take, thinking that out lack of creativity in the midfield meant that no Hammer could be ‘up there’ with the best in the Premier League. Shows what I know!
Stats show West Ham have the best playmaker in the Premier League:
According to the stats which Yahoo have sourced from whoscored.com: ‘Surprisingly the title so far this season doesn’t go to Cole Palmer, Phil Foden or Mohamed Salah, but instead, someone who calls London Stadium home’:
The Irons have ‘probably the best playmaker in the league’ in our own skipper Jarrod Bowen!
- Bowen is the only Premier League player to have registered 20+ key passes and completed 20+ successful dribbles so far.
- Add his three goals and two assists to that, and it’s already been a strong campaign for the Englishman.”
Even -in my humble opinion – not yet at his best for this season, Bowen is up there amongst the best. And we know from watching the winger last season, there is much more to come once Lopetegui gets his finger out and sorts the team, the system and the best ten other team mates to pick to play around JB 20.
There you go again, why do you keep doing it?
“once Lopetegui gets his finger out and sorts the team,”
It is never going to happen.
Another 10 Bowens and Westham would do well
Sometimes in football, the great work goes unrecognised. Playing it simple is often the most effective, but people don’t see it. They want to see step overs and flicks etc (and yeah, that’s entertaining), but you don’t actually need a lot of fancy skills to be effective. Vision, quick thinking and directness without over complicating things or hesitating are more valuable than anything else in my view. I love Bowen cos he doesn’t have an ego, he just works hard for the team and tries to have a positive impact.
100% correct.