‘That baffles you’ – Jim White reveals Danny Murphy’s off-air comment as West Ham fans slam Jarrod Bowen
Jarrod Bowen must bear major responsibility for Lucas Paqueta’s red card meltdown in West Ham’s defeat by Liverpool.
Paqueta was shown two yellow cards in quick succession by Darren England for an extended show of dissent as West Ham lost to Liverpool 2-0 on Sunday, later blaming his emotions on the two-year spot-fixing investigation he was recently the subject of.
After a nothing foul by Niclas Fullkrug was penalised by the referee with the score at 1-0 the Brazilian got himself booked for his reaction to the decision, before going onto harangue England despite teammates and members of the opposition trying to calm him down.
However, with Irons captain Bowen in close proximity as the second yellow was produced West Ham fans pointed the finger at the winger for not doing more to defuse the situation before it reached that point.
Murphy says Alisson did more than Bowen to calm Lucas Paqueta
During a phone-in live on talkSPORT two supporters asked why Bowen hadn’t been stronger in dragging Paqueta out of trouble, to which host Jim White revealed that pundit Danny Murphy had said the same thing off air.
He can’t understand why the West Ham star was being so passive in a situation that appeared to only be heading to one conclusion, and then duly did.
As the first caller raised the Bowen point White replied: “Funnily enough, in the commercial break Danny made exactly that point to Simon [Jordan] and myself. That baffles you.”
Murphy then said: “Yeah, because it was so obvious. You could see it, and you just had to get in between them and walk him away. The irony was [Liverpool keeper and Brazil teammate] Alisson was trying!”
Nuno Espirito Santo has fires to put out
Paqueta has been backed by manager Nuno Espirito Santo over the difficulties he has been through before the FA were unable to prove any guilt on spot fixing.
It is just the latest major headache the Hammers boss has inherited from before his time in charge, with the most obvious being the dismal results and performances under Graham Potter.
It took some time but two wins and a draw prior to the Liverpool defeat in November looked to have started addressing that problem, before Paqueta’s sending off helped bring the unbeaten run to an end.
The midfielder was on the brink of a big-money move to Man City two years ago when the probe came to light and clearly feels extremely hard done by still, so Nuno has to find a way to manage one of his best players both on and off the pitch, when it’s looking like a move away might be the ultimate answer.
Yet strained relations between Bowen and the fans might ultimately be the most concerning for the manager.
The Englishman has always been more of a lead-by-example breed of captain but it needed a more demonstrative character to step in at the London Stadium at the weekend.
Supporters are generally sick of how things have gone at the club for the past two years and the skipper shouldn’t be immune from criticism, but after Bowen clashed with West Ham fans in the stands after the Carabao Cup loss at Wolves earlier this season it suggests the bond is under extra strain, when a departure could be a hammer blow.
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