Jarrod Bowen team talk revealed as West Ham skipper shares what went wrong vs Millwall
Jarrod Bowen reportedly led West Ham United's team talk after a nightmare first half against Millwall on Saturday.
The Hammers found themselves in the worst possible scenario when 2-0 down at The Den in the first Dockers Derby since 2012.
Goals from Caleb Taylor and Camiel Neghli meant that Nuno Espirito Santo's side were on course for an embarrassing defeat to their rivals, but they fought back in the second 45 to draw 2-2.
Mohamadou Kante levelled the contest with a fabulous long-range effort before Konstantinos Mavropanos headed the Irons level.
Nuno's side then had to see out the game with 10 men after Kante took one for the team, hauling Kyrell Lisbie down to the ground after the Millwall forward was set for a one-on-one chance against Mads Hermansen.
Bowen was relatively quiet in terms of attacking output in the match, but he had an impact in his own way for West Ham.
Jarrod Bowen half-time team talk vs Millwall revealed
Bowen had the joint-most shots in the game with three, and even created a big chance.
Millwall did their best to keep the 29-year-old out of the game, but their attempts only led to space opening up for other West Ham players to shine.
The result sees the Irons head into the international break with 15 points from their first eight games, just one point off from the magic two-points-per-game trick that usually sees a team achieve automatic promotion.
The Athletic revealed that Bowen led the half-time team talk that inspired a comeback in the second 45.
Speaking to The Athletic, the West Ham captain said: "The first half wasn't near the level that we've shown. We didn't compete enough or show any quality.
"I think it took us too long to match them, and that's probably confusing to hear for people. Lots of little things we did just gave Millwall a boost.
"We found ourselves two goals down in a big derby that everyone's been waiting for. We had a chat; we knew what we needed to get that first goal (after half-time)."
If anything, West Ham have only shown their character and spirit even more.
If the Hammers manage to win the return fixture, then they will have the last laugh, as nothing is settled between the two sides just yet.
What supercomputer says about West Ham after Millwall
A win over Millwall would have been a fantastic result for West Ham, but a point isn't the end of the world in the context of their season.
They say win your home games and draw your away matches in the Championship, and that should be enough to get you to the Premier League.
Opta currently have West Ham to finish on 81.31 points, which would surprisingly be enough for them to achieve automatic promotion.
Perhaps that's more telling of the competition in the division, as several teams have started well this season.
The 2026-27 campaign will also see the play-offs be extended with the induction of seventh and eighth place, giving even more teams with further incentive to keep winning until the end of the season.