West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen has been speaking about the club’s new manager Graham Potter for the first time.
Jarrod Bowen has been one of the few highlights for West Ham in a season to forget so far.
But new manager Graham Potter will be hoping to turn that around in the second half of the season.
He made a fine start by masterminding an injury-ravaged West Ham to a 3-2 win over Fulham on Tuesday night.
One player Potter is having to do without is skipper Bowen.
The near ever-present Hammers hero broke his foot in the last game of 2024 to sum up a dreadful year for the club.
Bowen tried to play on for 30 minutes with a broken foot against Liverpool.
That really does sum up the man who makes West Ham tick.
Initially it was claimed West Ham would be without Bowen for at least two months.
The skipper’s fiance Dani Dyer then shared a picture of Bowen which appeared to confirm the seriousness of the issue as he had his foot in a protective boot and leg raised on two giant bean bags.
Gutted Bowen breaks silence on Potter at West Ham
But Dyer revealed on a podcast Bowen was targeting a return in early February.
Since then Bowen has shared a video of himself jogging on an anti-gravity treadmill at Rush Green and the manager reported he has been running on grass again.
Potter got a monumental Bowen boost when it emerged the forward could return even sooner, by the end of January.
The target right now is the away game at Aston Villa.
As a result of being out injured West Ham fans have not heard their captain’s thoughts on his new boss.
Julen Lopetegui made Bowen skipper on his arrival in east London.
When the Spaniard was sacked, Bowen was one of the only players to post a message to Lopetegui on social media.
Now the skipper has broken his silence on Lopetegui’s replacement.
Bowen is gutted about the Potter timing at West Ham and makes an utterly ridiculous claim.
Hammers captain makes ridiculous claim
West Ham’s talisman has doubled down on his intention to return ahead of schedule from his injury.
But he admits he is frustrated to be missing out on matches and working with Potter.
“I think everyone knows me, and that I hate not playing football!” Bowen told West Ham’s website.
“That’s my mindset. I hate not being part of winning games.
“We have a new Head Coach and I want to be working with him and be out on the pitch with the lads, but I think my role now is to be being around the lads, keep the spirits high and ultimately the lads are the ones doing that by putting in good performances, winning games and seeing them do that is really nice.”
Bowen has also been so impressed by the uplift in performance levels it has prompted him to make a laughable claim.
Pull the other one Jarrod
Because he reckons it might be hard for him to get back in the side.
“If we keep winning it will be a question of if I can get back into the team,” humble Bowen added – surely realising how ridiculous that statement is.
“I’m itching to get back. I hate being injured, so I always try and beat the recovery time that the physios or doctors or specialists tell me and get out there as soon as possible.”
Bowen would walk into most Premier League starting XIs, let alone West Ham’s.
His attitude and approach sums up why he is so well liked and so good, though.
There is excitement around West Ham about Bowen playing under Potter.
He is perfect for Potter’s approach and that high intensity, high pressing style.
Hopefully we don’t have too much longer to wait to see that theory put to the test.
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