Nuno Espirito Santo is limiting Jarrod Bowen’s West Ham impact with positional decision
Nuno Espirito Santo gets the best out of Jarrod Bowen in his West Ham United side when he operates as a right winger, making his decision to play him in attacking midfield very confusing.
The 29-year-old forward is West Ham’s best chance of escaping relegation, but their destiny is now out of their hands.
Indeed, the damaging 3-1 defeat to Newcastle on Sunday means that Tottenham can relegated the Hammers if they beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.
If the Irons do go down this season, then there will be a myriad of missed opportunities to look back on as watershed moments and decisions Nuno and his group would love to have back.
But, with just one more game to play, not playing Bowen in his best position in recent critical games during the run-in should rank near the top of Nuno’s regrets.
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How poor was Jarrod Bowen in Newcastle vs West Ham?
Many West Ham fans have turned on the team following the loss to Newcastle, with Nuno and his players booed off at St James’ Park by what remained of the travelling contingent after full-time.
Whether the principle of booing your own players is something you do or don’t agree with, what can’t be argued is that the Hammers blew a critical opportunity to keep their survival hopes alive on Tyneside.
| West Ham’s stats vs Newcastle | Result |
| Possession | 45% |
| Shots (on target) | 15 (8) |
| Touches in Newcastle box | 34 |
| Big chances missed | 1 |
| Pass accuracy | 83% |
One of the main reasons why the Irons didn’t give themselves the best chance to take something from that game was down to Bowen not being in the match at all.
Lining up as the right-sided attacking midfielder behind Callum Wilson, the Magpies’ industrious and combative defensive performance saw West Ham’s talisman unable to find the space to impact proceedings.
As per FotMob, Bowen registered only one shot on goal against Newcastle, whilst creating zero chances, completing none of his two dribble attempts and delivering zero accurate crosses respectively.
He also took only two touches in the Magpies’ box, as well as playing just the two passes into the final third whilst winning three of his 10 ground duels respectively.
West Ham don’t win when Bowen isn’t on the right
A player who thrives in space and when he’s able to drive at opposition full-backs, it’s no secret that Bowen’s best position is on the right.
Indeed, as outlined via Transfermarkt, West Ham have failed to win a single Premier League game when he’s not started the match on the right this season.
However, Nuno has started him in attacking midfield in West Ham’s last two league games, in which he’s not been able to provide any goal contributions.
Adama Traore was the only injury absentee against Newcastle, with the rest of the squad having a clean bill of health, so it’s not as though Nuno is being forced to play him here either.
Lewis Hall didn’t have a great game for Newcastle either, and so you feel as though had Bowen been directly squared up against him on Sunday, the Hammers could’ve got far more joy out their trip to Tyneside.