Jarrod Bowen has become the first West Ham player to speak out after the sacking of manager Julen Lopetegui.
West Ham put Julen Lopetegui out of his misery by finally announcing his departure on Wednesday afternoon.
After 48 hours of intense speculation following a leak that Lopetegui would be sacked, the announcement came from the Hammers.
The club stated that Lopetegui failed to meet their expectations in the first half of the season.
As a result they were left with little choice but to pull the trigger.
In truth West Ham had given Lopetegui more time than most to prove his worth.
But it was a case of three strikes and out as West Ham suffered heavy defeats to Liverpool and Man City after a string of extremely fortunate results against Wolves, Bournemouth, Brighton and Southampton.
It should also be noted that West Ham’s wins over Man United, Palace and Bournemouth in the cup were seriously lucky too.
Lopetegui’s time at West Ham was marred by bust-ups with players.
The manager had a much publicised row with Mohammed Kudus at Brentford.
The Spaniard also confirmed himself that he had an altercation with defender Jean-Clair Todibo.
Bowen sends message to Lopetegui after West Ham sacking
Lopetegui described it as ‘nothing serious’. But Athletic journalist Roshane Thomas claims the incident saw punches thrown.
The Hammers boss is also said to have fallen out with Edson Alvarez.
There is no denying almost all of West Ham’s players failed to hit their best form under Lopetegui.
Bar perhaps Max Kilman, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Lukasz Fabianski and Jarrod Bowen.
Well now Bowen has sent a message to Lopetegui but the silence from other West Ham stars speaks volumes.
Taking to his Instagram Stories, Bowen emotionally thanked Lopetegui for making him captain and wished him well for the furture.
“You gave me the biggest honour of being captain for you and this team,” Bowen said alongside a picture of him with Lopetegui and heart emojis.
“Thank you for everything boss and good luck with your future.”
Silence from other West Ham stars speaks volumes
At the time of writing – nearly six hours after the official announcement – Bowen is a lone voice in bidding the manager farewell.
When David Moyes left, almost all players sent him a goodbye message as soon as the announcement was made public.
It perhaps says a lot about Lopetegui’s standing in the dressing room that Bowen has so far been the only one to react publicly.
Jamie Carragher stated this week that it was clear there are ‘issues in the dressing room’ under Lopetegui.
His rationale being the way the Hammers have capitulated to concede three goals or more on NINE occasions in his 22 games.
Carragher highlighted that West Ham actually lost six Premier League games by three goals or more.
And he believes that is a sign all was not right in the dressing room.
Specsavers have trolled West Ham after the announcement.
Graham Potter will be unveiled as Lopetegui’s successor in a press conference at 9am on Thursday.
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