Spot-on Bowen shows Hammers way out of trouble

Nobody could fault Jarrod Bowen’s wholehearted commitment to the Hammers cause last night and with a shade more luck the January signing would have pulled us right back into the game.

He hit a post with the score at 1-o and but for the width of the woodwork would have been the clear hero of the night.

Beyond that he was everything else that our more exalted – and certainly more expensive players – were not and his attitude is the way out of the mess we’re in if followed by the others.

He was here there and everywhere and one sweeping crossfield ball early to Cresswell almost set up a cross and Antonio knockdown which could easily have led to an early Noble goal.

He has it all and he had every right to feel bitterly disappointed that his night’s work wasn’t rewarded with what would have been a thoroughly deserved goal

And speaking afterwards at https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2020/june/23-june/jarrod-bowen-left-frustrated-fine-margins-tottenham he said: “On another day it goes inside the post, and if that goes in it’s 1-1 and we’re right back in the game. Unfortunately it’s hit the post and gone wide.

“The first goal, being an own goal, was tough to take, but I felt we were still in the game. We had a couple of chances, we hit the post but they caught us on the counter attack to knock the stuffing out of us with the second goal so late on.

“I don’t think you can fault any of the boys’ effort – you could see that we worked hard without the ball, it’s just unfortunate that the manner of the first goal killed us a bit.”

Bowen had praise for his teammates’ work rate as they searched for reward at Tottenham, but knows they need to show a sharper edge going forward when they return to action against Chelsea next week.

He explained: “We were just working hard, trying to make opportunities on the break and trying to get a foothold in the game. We know they like to play with a fast tempo, so we were trying to deal with it as best we could.

“Hard work is a given, you’re expected to work hard every game, and we will put maximum effort in, play our own game and take it to the opposition.

“We’ve had a tough run, we’ve got Chelsea next week, every game is tough in the position we’re in. We’ve got seven massive games now to start picking up some