Julen Lopetegui handed the captaincy to West Ham United attacker Jarrod Bowen in the summer.
It was claimed that West Ham head coach Julen Lopetegui was weighing up whether to appoint Max Kilman as the new club captain, but he settled on Jarrod Bowen in the end.
West Ham ace Jarrod Bowen admitted last week that he wants to stay with us for the rest of his career, and that was so good for the fans to hear.
The 27-year-old is a huge fan favourite at the London Stadium due to his exceptional work-rate, commitment and incredible output.
The winger, signed from Hull City for £20 million in January 2020 has firmly cemented himself as a top Premier League star, and if he remains with us for the remainder of his career, he will undoubtedly achieve legendary status.
I’m expecting Bowen’s goal and two assists on Saturday to really kickstart his season for the Hammers.
He really does need to start leading by example now…
What Julen Lopetegui has observed about Jarrod Bowen’s captaincy
The 27-year-old has made a slow start to the 2024/25 campaign with the Hammers.
It has been mooted that the captaincy is weighing heavily on his shoulders.
Whether or not that is the case is up for debate, but what does Lopetegui think about the situation?
According to The Athletic, Lopetegui has made an observation about Bowen’s captaincy style.
Roshane Thomas highlighted that the Hammers boss doesn’t believe that the former Hull man is what you would call a ‘quintessential captain’.
Thomas said, “Lopetegui has observed that Bowen is not your quintessential loud captain. He is a quiet leader who prefers to do his talking on the pitch.“
That’s fair enough, but in order to be a club captain of a Premier League club, you need to do a lot of things off the pitch as well, in my opinion.
In addition to that, the Hammers really need someone to get in the referee’s ear when decisions are going against us, and a man who will gee up his teammates when they’re underperforming.
As good a player as Jarrod Bowen is, he’s just not the kind of player who talks much on the pitch.
I personally think that Max Kilman should have been handed the armband, or Tomas Soucek, if Lopetegui plans on playing him regularly.
That said, I do think Jarrod Bowen can succeed as captain of West Ham, but I believe he needs to be more vocal on the pitch in order to do just that.
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