West Ham United were hammered at home by Chelsea on Saturday, and Jarrod Bowen cut a really frustrated figure at the London Stadium throughout the game.
Jarrod Bowen was named as the new West Ham club captain earlier this summer, so he has a lot more responsibility now.
West Ham ace Jarrod Bowen admitted earlier this week that he wants to stay with us for the rest of his career, but he might just be questioning those comments now.
That’s because Julen Lopetegui and Tim Steidten have put the 27-year-old in a really difficult position.
Due to injuries and the poor form of certain players, Bowen was forced to play as a central striker against Chelsea yesterday.
It was a ploy from Lopetegui that failed to work from the very first whistle.
The West Ham head coach and the director of football are entirely to blame in my eyes.
Jarrod Bowen highlights a major problem for West Ham
Bowen struggled from the off against the Blues yesterday, and failed to impact the game whatsoever.
It was painful watching him toil in the centre-forward position against Chelsea’s powerful centre-backs.
The mere fact that the former Hull City star was forced to play out of position was entirely avoidable though.
Here’s my main issue with Bowen playing through the middle…
It’s not that he’s terrible in the centre-forward position, but he does struggle to lead the line on his own due to his lack of height and physicality.
The main issue in my mind when he plays there is that we actually lose his brilliance out on the right wing.
Ideally we would have signed Jhon Duran in the summer, and that would have enabled Lopetegui to play Bowen on the right wing, Mohammed Kudus in the number 10 position and either Lucas Paqueta or Crysencio Summerville out wide on the left hand side.
Lopetegui and Steidten to blame for Bowen issue
The Hammers head coach brought Niclas Fullkrug to the London Stadium in the summer transfer window.
The German is a proven striker, but at 31, his best years are most probably already behind him.
He has struggled to settle into life at the London Stadium, and the injury he picked up whilst on international duty definitely didn’t help matters.
Had the Hammers pushed the boat out to sign Duran in the summer, we would be in a far better position right now.
The Colombian hitman was there for the taking, but the East London outfit refused to meet Aston Villa’s £40 million demands.
That now looks like a disastrous decision from the owners, Lopetegui and Steidten.
And as a result, West Ham ace Jarrod Bowen has been put in a really difficult position.
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