West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen made his mark when he came on for England against Greece but talkSPORT pundit Adrian Durham wasn’t impressed.
There has been much controversy around the England squad after nine withdrawals.
But it opened the door for West Ham star Jarrod Bowen to get the call after initially being snubbed by interim boss Lee Carsley.
That came as no great shock because Carsley dropped the Hammers talisman for the October England squad too.
It was no real surprise at West Ham either, where it’s long been felt players are ignored due to a “top six bias”.
There are only five English players in the Premier League with a better average match rating this season than Bowen.
So by rights, he should have been in the original squad without question.
Harsh Durham says Bowen was England’s second worst player
But after direct rivals Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer all pulled out, the Hammers ace got the call.
Bowen accepted the situation like a true professional.
He was rewarded with a 25-minute cameo in the second half of England’s 3-0 win over Greece.
The Prague hero came on against a Greece side containing his West Ham teammate Konstantinos Mavropanos with the score at 1-0.
Bowen worked his socks off as usual and showed his talent by drawing two defenders before a nutmeg pass to Morgan Gibbs-White, who cut the ball back for Curtis Jones to score a brilliant back-heel.
West Ham’s top scorer was widely praised for his part in the goal – what’s nowadays known as a pre-assist – the key pass which makes the opening for a big chance.
One man clearly wasn’t impressed, though.
Harsh Adrian Durham says West Ham star Bowen was England’s second worst player.
West Ham star Bowen roundly praised for cameo
Analysing the game for talkSPORT, Durham gave Bowen a score of just 5/10.
And he said he is ‘capable of more’.
Durham gave all but two England players a 6/10 rating or above.
He even gave two of Bowen’s fellow substitutes – Morgan Rogers and Lewis Hall – 7/10.
There were two more 7/10 performances, an 8/10 and two 9/10 displays according to Durham.
But 5/10 Bowen was England’s second worst behind Conor Gallagher who was worthy of only 4/10 according to the pundit.
“Of the final three substitutes, Jarrod Bowen was “steady when he came on but capable of more,” for a 5/10 rating.
Durham’s opinion was not universally shared, though.
Here’s a round-up of player ratings from a host of other outlets from The Guardian to The Sun with Bowen getting 7/10 from many.
The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg highlighted Bowen’s important role in England’s killer third goal.
He awarded the West Ham skipper a 7/10 score.
The Daily Mail awarded Bowen a 6/10 rating.
Football 365 didn’t hand out scores but praised Bowen for his ‘lovely little pass’ for the goal.
“Bowen: Lovely little return pass to Morgan Gibbs-White in the build-up to the third goal that put the result to bed,” the report reads.
West Ham’s main man was praised by The Sun for that pass too as they awarded him 7/10.
“Jarrod Bowen (for Noni Madueke, 66) – 7: Clever nutmeg to free Morgan Gibbs-White, who then teed up Jones,” the report reads.
The Daily Express rated Bowen 6/10 and praised his graft for the team.
“Bowen, 6/10: Put plenty of hard yards in and played the pass to Gibbs-White that led to Jones’ goal,” their report states.
Goal gave the West Ham forward 6/10 too, saying: “Played his part in the late goals.”
The Independent gave Bowen a 7/10 while The Evening Standard awarded him 6/10, saying: “Missed out on the squad initially but came on to play part in the third.”
Only Give Me Sport agreed with Durham, giving Bowen 5/10 – making him the worst England player according to their ratings.
“Did little in the half-hour that he was on the pitch, receiving little service, and was closed out well by the Greek defence,” the reporter states.
The same reporter awarded Mavropanos – who was part of a defence which lost 3-0 at home – 7/10. Go figure.
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