Garth Crooks thrilled by Jarrod Bowen’s performance in West Ham win v Chelsea
West Ham produced one of their best games of 2021-22 on Saturday (4 December), securing a 3-2 win over Chelsea to consolidate their fourth place in the table.
Hammers forward Jarrod Bowen was one of the best players on the pitch at the London Stadium, and while BBC pundit Garth Crooks included him in his team of the week on the website, he admitted he has never been a huge admirer of the former Hull City star.
The 24-year-old bagged his third league goal of the campaign as David Moyes’ men came from behind twice to secure a hard-fought victory, but Crooks believes he should be scoring more.
He said: “I’ve never been a great fan of Jarrod Bowen, not because he can’t play but because a kid with his talent should be scoring more goals.
“He gets into great positions but often lacks the finishing touch. However, against a desperately unlucky Chelsea, it was Bowen who seized onto Jorginho’s poor back pass to Edouard Mendy, who has been in great form this season, that led to the penalty.
“Unfortunately, the Senegal international on this occasion was too proud to put his foot through the ball and into the crowd, where it should have gone and paid the price. Bowen’s performance galvanised the Hammers. Mendy’s destroyed Chelsea’s.”
Spot on
Bowen has been involved in seven league goals for West Ham this season, but he has a lot of potential and should be scoring and assisting more than he is currently doing.
He was snubbed by Gareth Southgate for the last England squad to the dismay of many, and his inability to convert more goalscoring chances definitely saw him miss out on a call-up.
There are very few players in the Premier League who are as hardworking as the Hammers ace on the pitch, and he is attracting the bigwigs for a reason.
However, Bowen needs to start scoring more if he wants to have a chance of playing for the Three Lions at next year’s World Cup.
He has shown what he is capable of doing in front of goal a couple of times, but will need to improve if he is to help West Ham finish in the top-four and end this season with a trophy.
He had no problem finding the back of the net regularly at Hull and now needs to prove he can do so consistently in the top-flight.
In other West Ham news, an amazing attacker is making personal arrangements for Hammers switch in January.
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