Gary Lineker shares verdict on West Ham ace after Cesc Fabregas told him during England v Serbia
Gary Lineker hailed the performance of West Ham ace Jarrod Bowen when he came off the bench in England’s Euro 2024 Group C victory over Serbia on Sunday (16 June).
The Hammers winger was brought on in the second half in Dusseldorf and hung up a great cross shortly after coming on from which Harry Kane almost scored.
Both Lineker and Alan Shearer, speaking on the This is Football podcast (18 June), were impressed by Bowen’s impact when he came on.
“I thought his substitutions worked,” said Shearer. “He brought Bowen on for more energy, he was the one that clipped the ball in [for Kane’s chance].
Lineker replied: “There was a criticism in the studio even from someone like Cesc Fabregas that was saying when you’re getting deeper and then you bring on people just to cover those things and bring in a bit more energy. But actually what you want to do is get hold of the ball and bring people on who can look after the ball. I thought Bowen did really well.”
Shearer concurred, saying: “He did that one good thing when he went down the right and he clipped it to Harry, if that goes in, 2-0 and everyone says ‘what a lovely substitution, it’s worked perfectly’.”
Could England start West Ham United star Jarrod Bowen against Denmark?
On paper, the Three Lions have one of the strongest teams in the competition but that doesn’t mean anything if they can’t work together.
In their opening game, both Phil Foden and Kane put out below-average performances and no player should be above getting dropped if they are underperforming.
If this does happen, Bowen would be an ideal replacement for Foden and could really excel in an attacking role.
However, if the likes of Ivan Toney, Ollie Watkins or Anthony Gordon are chosen to start, Gareth Southgate could opt to play the Hammers star as a number nine due to his pace and clinical finishing.
In addition to national media rating Bowen highly, receiving a match rating of 7/10 from the Metro [16 June] despite his brief cameo.
Although Southgate will likely keep a similar line-up, it would be nice to see Bowen start against Denmark to see what he can offer the team.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers have been linked with a move for a Premier League ace this summer.
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