James Murray

Sun 15 October 2023 14:42, UK

Rene Meulensteen has admitted that West Ham winger Jarrod Bowen was the player he was most looking forward to watching for England against Australia on Friday (13 October).

Speaking on talkSPORT on Saturday (14 October), the Socceroos assistant coach said he was “quite keen” on seeing the 26-year-old because he likes him as a player.

But the Dutchman added that he thought his side dealt with the threat provided by the Hammers forward well as he played the full 90 minutes in the Three Lions’ 1-0 victory at Wembley.

“Were there any of them (England players) when you saw the team that you thought ‘I better have a word with the guy that’s going to come against him’ to make sure that he’s absolutely on it?” asked talkSPORT pundit Scott Minto.

“Yeah, absolutely,” said Meulensteen. “Obviously, I was quite keen on seeing Bowen because I like him, I like him as a player. But I thought we nullified that threat really well.”

Progress

It is a great sign of the progress that Bowen has made that an opposing coach picked Bowen out as potentially the biggest threat for England against Australia.

The forward has been in superb form for the Hammers at the start of this season and fully deserved his call-up and the opportunity to show what he could do in the victory at Wembley.

The Englishman may have liked to have been more involved at times, but he had a couple of bright moments as Ollie Watkins scored the only goal of the game in the second half to secure a 1-0 win for his side.

Bowen will now be hoping to be handed another chance to impress when England face Italy in a European Championships qualifier on Tuesday (17 October).

Although his confidence is no doubt already high on the back of his recent form, this international recognition will hopefully provide even more of a spring in his step when he returns from international duty with us next week.

In other West Ham news, the club’s “top spy” has handed in his notice at the London Stadium.