After agreeing to stay at West Ham despite relegation, Jarrod Bowen is taking no prisoners with a clear message to majority owner Daniel Kretinsky and head coach Nuno Espirito Santo.
Hammers fans who feel Jarrod Bowen is not captain material may have to realign their thinking.
The skipper was already a West Ham legend before agreeing to stay at the club next season despite the club’s relegation from the Premier League.
West Ham’s Prague hero has certainly cemented that status by remaining at the London Stadium despite Champions League clubs showing genuine interest in signing him.
Bowen tells Kretinsky and Nuno West Ham not good enough
The skipper has sacrificed a lot to try and help West Ham bounce straight back to the top flight.
So he is in no mood to suffer fools, accept anything less than high standards or mince his words it seems.
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Because Bowen has sent a clear message to Daniel Kretinsky and Nuno Espirito Santo amid growing West Ham fears.
Many Hammers fans are worried and frustrated by the fact the club is yet to make a single new signing given the season starts in less than three weeks.
Legend Frank McAvennie has predicted a ‘long, hard season’ for West Ham after what he has witnessed from the team.
Nuno has insisted West Ham will be making signings ‘soon’ amid calls from supporters to bring new players in.
Both he and new head of recruitment Nils Koppen have insisted it is important to get the signings right this summer by bringing in the right profile of player.
But Bowen is not here to mess around this season – and he has made that abundantly clear to his teammates, manager and the board with a brutally honest and blunt verdict on the performance in the 0-0 draw at Rangers.
Bowen calls out ‘slow and sloppy’ Hammers squad
The skipper made it clear that Rangers has been the only true test at the level West Ham will face next season.
And he slammed the team’s slow and sloppy performance, refusing to use the excuse of West Ham being a week behind Rangers in terms of their pre-season preparations.
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“This is the closest we’re going to get to competition (and) in terms of a crowd, a full crowd, our crowd being here and the opposition we were playing against,” Bowen told West Ham’s website after the 0-0 stalemate with Rangers at Ibrox.
“And at times I thought it was sloppy on our behalf, it wasn’t the level and then at other times I thought we upped the level well…
“Yeah, a little bit,” Bowen said reluctantly when it was put to him that Rangers being a week ahead in terms of fitness had an impact on West Ham’s performance.
“But it felt at times that we were a little bit sloppy, a little bit slow on our behalf starting and that’s something we need to get better on.
“The quality of the opposition we were up against we nearly got punished losing the ball in areas where we can’t lose the ball in those areas.
“But this is what these games are for to get those mistakes out of the way, to try those things, to risk those things.”
Bowen has made it clear, that level of performance and the team as it was at the weekend is not good enough to achieve what West Ham want, need and are expected to achieve next season.
After meeting with Kretinsky and being reassured over the club’s ambitions and plans, the proof of the pudding will now be in the eating.
West Ham have just over a month until the window closes, there is work to be done and there can be no excuses and no half measures – just ask Bowen.
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