Lee Carsley is a pretender for the England job but West Ham star Jarrod Bowen and two teammates have made him look like an imposter.
Just when West Ham fans thought they had seen the back of a manager with a “big six bias” – along comes another.
West Ham fans – and supporters of many “Other 14” clubs have felt that way about the England situation for a while now.
Gareth Southgate consistently snubbed West Ham’s top performing players during his tenure as Three Lions boss.
Southgate arrived, as all England managers seem to, promising to play players on form and not reputation, declaring it doesn’t matter who you play for.
He antagonised the Hammers faithful by continually overlooking star man Jarrod BowenJarrod Bowen in recent seasons.
And when Bowen did get in the squad Southgate never gave him a proper chance.
Southgate also angered Hammers fans when he declared Declan Rice had taken his game to another level since leaving West Ham earlier this year.
Southgate was left with no choice but to pick Bowen for his Euros squad off the back of his brilliant form for West Ham again last season.
Many Hammers supporters feel Bowen should be pushing Bukayo Saka for a start by rights – if Cole Palmer is to play more centrally.
Bowen was barely used at the Euros despite impressing during brief cameos.
Interim England boss Lee Carsley is currently auditioning for the job.
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Blunt Bowen speaks out as West Ham trio make England imposter Carsley look silly
He called up Bowen for his first squad in September but ignored Max Kilman and Aaron Wan-Bissaka despite declaring it was a clean slate.
Kilman has been brilliant since arriving in a £40m deal from Wolves. Bowen has been too.
Wan-Bissaka is comfortably the best defensive right-back in the Premier League. And he has shown he can even play at left-back with West Ham as well – a problem position for England right now.
All three players were absolutely brilliant in West Ham’s 4-1 win over Ipswich on Saturday.
Now blunt West Ham star Bowen has spoken out as the West Ham trio make England imposter Carsley look silly.
Bowen scored and laid on two assists for good measure in the Hammers’ win over the Tractor Boys.
He had impressed in the limited time Carsley gave him during the September matches. He did more in his nine minutes on the pitch up front in one game than Harry Kane had done in the 80-odd before.
The West Ham captain left Carsley red-faced on Saturday.
Bowen, with four, has more goals and assists in the Premier League this season than England call-ups Noni Madueke (three), Dominic Solanke (two), Anthony Gordon (two), Jack Grealish (one), Morgan Gibbs-White (one) and Phil Foden (zero).
His strike against Ipswich also means Bowen has 18 non-penalty goals since the 2023/24 PL season.
That’s more than Son Heung-Min (17) and Mo Salah (16).
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England’s loss is West Ham’s gain
After West Ham’s win, Bowen was asked about the shocking England snub.
And if Carsley thinks his ridiculous decision will spark a reaction from Bowen then he can forget it.
Because Bowen says Carsley simply can’t make him any more motivated than he already is.
“I never need any extra motivation to perform, and the England news was just one of those things,” Bowen said bluntly on West Ham’s website.
“But you either let these things eat you up or you go and show what you’re about.
“My mindset has always been the same, and for the club as well, we’ve been in a bit of a difficult situation, but to a man we’ve gone out there and got the job done today, which is great.”
‘To a man’ is right.
Kilman and Wan-Bissaka joined Bowen in making Carsley’s decision not to call them up look laughable.
How can the best defensive full-back in the country not be in the squad?
Especially given his versatility to play at left-back when there is a dearth of players in that position. Carsley has even suggested Palmer could play there if needed.
Enough said.
As for Kilman not getting a chance once again.
England’s loss is West Ham’s gain because the Hammers would not want Kilman to risk injury or suddenly feel he was under the spotlight if that might impact his performances.
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