Julen Lopetegui gushes over ‘exemplary’ Jarrod Bowen trait he loved at West Ham
Julen Lopetegui gushed over the “exemplary” trait Jarrod Bowen displayed during his time as West Ham United boss.
Lopetegui was dismissed from his role at The London Stadium at the start of the New Year after struggling to deliver in terms of performances and results with the Hammers.
Since his departure, Graham Potter has come into the role although was struggling to get going before a 1-0 victory against Arsenal on Saturday (22 February).
Lopetegui full of praise for Jarrod Bowen
Following in the footsteps of a well-liked manager in David Moyes was always going to make Lopetegui’s job a bit of a difficult one.
However, inconsistency in both results and performances left the Irons floating a bit too close to the relegation zone and a change was needed.
After spending a fair bit of money in the summer transfer window, there were expectations for certain players to perform to a higher standard than was being delivered and failure to make the team gel had to come down to the boss.
Nevertheless, Lopetegui has been full of praise for one man he worked with at the London Stadium in captain Bowen as he told The Guardian: “We had a captain, Jarrod [Bowen], who helped a lot – and will mark an era.
“He’s exemplary: work, behaviour, responsibility, the talent to play at any level.”
Bowen continues to be key to West Ham success
Bowen has been a big name at West Ham for a number of seasons now and his performances have gained him attraction from elsewhere as well as presenting England call-ups to him.
As the Hammers’ captain, he seems to be one player in East London who never lets his own standards slip on the pitch and even if his team aren’t performing well, he will not be a player who stops trying.
| Apperances | 22 |
| Goals | 7 |
| Assists | 4 |
| Expected goals | 5.84 |
After suffering from an injury this term, Bowen has been forced to watch his side playing from the sidelines at times.
However, recovering quicker than he was supposed to saw him walk straight back into Potter’s side when the Hammers played Chelsea on 3 February and scoring upon his return.
It comes as no surprise that his former manager enjoyed working with him and these thoughts would surely be echoed by Potter now.
With plenty of time remaining on his current deal in East London, we will no doubt see Bowen continue to be part of the Hammers’ spine as they look for progress going forward with no pressure to sell their star player.