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Jarrod Bowen avoids England embarrassment in Nations League defeat v England
Jarrod Bowen has endured a tough start to the season for West Ham United, nevertheless, the 25-year-old was still called up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
On the face of it, a break from the pressures of the domestic game could well have been a good thing for Bowen, but considering the complete mess that England are in at the moment, he is unlikely to escape criticism.
Last night, Southgate’s side put in another tepid attacking display against Italy which ended up in a pitiful defeat at the San Siro in the Nations League.
The loss means that England have been relegated from their group without scoring a goal from open play in 495 minutes. It’s clear that the majority of the blame will lie with Southgate, considering the wealth of attacking players that he has at his disposal.
However, the players who featured last night (23 September) will also shoulder some responsibility and luckily for Bowen he wasn’t one of the two substitutions that Southgate called upon.
If he had been asked to come off the bench it would’ve been an impossible task, with England completely devoid of any attacking ideas.
With the eyes of the usually volatile English media upon the San Siro, Bowen has certainly escaped the spotlight and scrutiny that other players have come under.
Gianluca Scamacca and Declan Rice were also both given disappointing ratings by Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
England face Germany at Wembley in their last Nations League fixture, with Bowen likely to feature at some point. With the match now a dead rubber for England, the West Ham man must take the chance and rediscover his good form from the 2021/22 season.