Vladimir Coufal baffled by England snubs for West Ham United duo Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse
Vladimir Coufal has admitted he was shocked to see West Ham duo James Ward-Prowse and Jarrod Bowen miss out on the England squad in September, as they eye call-ups for the October internationals.
The pair have been essential in the Hammers’ excellent start to the season, with Ward-Prowse shining with five-goal involvements in six league matches since making the switch from Southampton, while Bowen has five goals in seven matches.
Despite that good form Gareth Southgate opted to not pick either player for his squad for games against Ukraine and Scotland, but Coufal believes the pair should both be included in the squad for fixtures against Australia and Italy.
As quoted by the Evening Standard (2 October) he said: “I was really surprised they weren’t there last time, I hope for both of them. They absolutely deserve it. The manager sees it but obviously reaching the squad is very difficult because of the number of players with amazing ability. But these two deserve to be there.
“Everybody sees it and everybody knows it because [Ward-Prowse] is a very experienced player. His ability to put the ball exactly to the spot where he wants it is amazing. We are really happy he is here.”
Surely
It was ridiculous to not see either Bowen or Ward-Prowse in Southgate’s squads earlier this season given the pairs’ excellent start to the campaign, but surely after they have continued this form for a further month in some tough fixtures for the Hammers, they have to be included.
Southgate does have his favourites as shown by the constant inclusion of Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips in squads, despite neither player getting more than a handful of minutes for their club sides in recent seasons, yet the form of the West Ham stars cannot be ignored.
There is nobody in the England squad with a better delivery than the former Southampton man from set-pieces and he has the ability to change games at the drop of the hat, while Bowen has scored more goals than any other Englishman in the Premier League this season.
The only fear for West Ham fans will be whether or not the pair come back from any potential international duty unscathed. With extra games to play, there is always the small risk that players could pick up knocks and that could be incredibly damaging to David Moyes’ side.
Southgate should name his squad for the two October fixtures in the coming days.
In other West Ham news, Declan Rice has revealed what Mark Noble said to him after he told him he was leaving the Irons