EVER since Jarrod Bowen missed his penalty in West Ham’s FA Cup quarter final loss to Leeds United back in April, the Irons skipper has seemed a different player with the ball at his feet from twelve yards.
The Hammers’ hero wasn’t alone in failing to convert in that epic shootout last April – Pablo fluffed his lines too – but the result seems to have stayed with Bowen as the couple of spot kicks he’s taken since lack conviction.
This from the West Ham player who used to smash penalties into the roof of the net seemingly at will, with ice-cold nerves during high stakes European ties.
Perhaps it is time for a change? Taty’s record is little better at West Ham, with another high stakes spot kick missed against Charlton costing the Hammers a point. Two missed kicks, three points dropped in eleven games.
Engels already has a pretty damned’ good career record for spot kicks
Fortunately West Ham don’t need to look too far for the answer: With an amazing career record of 16 goals from 19 penalties, midfielder and dead ball specialist Arne Engels is surely the Hammer to throw the ball to whilst Bowen is in the midst of a spot kick crisis of confidence.
Jarrod’s words – completely unnecessary – after the miss against QPR sound like someone who has the world on his shoulders right now:
“I’m sorry Hammers, sometimes these moments come and you have to face up to them and accept it for what it is. It is going to hurt but tomorrow is another day.
“Ultimately people are going to remember me missing the penalty to not win the game and that’s something that you have to accept and face up to. (whufc.com)
Time to remind Bowen that he’s already a living legend at West Ham and maybe he can let someone else share some of the responsibility : From the statistics above clearly the Hammers already have a spot kick specialist just waiting in the wings to give Bowen a breather.
Could we not get Julian Dicks to work as a specialist penalty/free kick coach? He was the best penalty taker I’ve ever seen – no shilly-shallying, no giving the goalkeeper ‘the eye’, just hit the ball like an Exocet and more fool the keeper if he got in the way (any keeper dumb enough to get anywhere close to a Dicks penalty in fact would invariably end up in the back of the net with the ball and in dire need of counselling as a result). Time to send out the JD signal over the London Stadium? I think so…