Football is a fickle business. Just two days ago West Ham’s Captain Jarrod Bowen was being criticised from media sources claiming he wasn’t the man for the captain’s armband, his form was being picked apart and he’d heard that Lee Carsley had left him out of the England squad for the two October friendlies.
Despite the setbacks, West Ham’s number 20 took them all on the chin and came out fighting yesterday, setting up Mikhail Antonio in the first minute, scoring one himself and laying on another for Lucas Paquetá in a man of the match performance.
Instead of letting the team’s performances to date, the dressing room bust-ups which took place last weekend and his omission from the national team get him down, West Ham’s skipper has shown his response in the best possible way, with a pivotal part in a winning performance.
Exhibiting a maturity and a mindset which could have come straight from a psychology text book, Bowen revealed:
“I never need any extra motivation to perform and the England news was just one of those things,‘ said Bowen to the club web site whufc.com‘ But you either let these things eat you up or you go and show what you’re about.
‘My mindset has always been the same, and for the club as well. We’ve been in a bit of a difficult situation, but to a man we went out there and got the job done, which is great.’
And, sparing a thought for team-mates who have been, similarly under the spotlight with criticism of their performances filling media columns, Bowen added “I’m really happy for Mo[Kudus], Mick [Antonio] and Lucas [Paquetá], and I think there were good performances in defence and midfield as well. Like I said, it was the positive performance we needed.
You don’t want to be on the end of a defeat going into an international break, and thankfully those that are going away now will be going away happy.”
As will the bulk of the sixty two thousand, four hundred plus fans at London Stadium yesterday afternoon. With no doubts whatsoever as to the suitability of Bowen for the coveted captain’s armband.