The status of ‘West Ham United talisman’ has belonged to one man and one man alone, really, throughout much of the last few years. There are no prizes for guessing we are talking about Jarrod Bowen.
Lucas Paqueta has had his moments. Mohammed Kudus, too.
Bowen is still trailing the iconic Michail Antonio as he looks to replace his former teammate as the most prolific Premier League marksman in West Ham United’s history. Yet, while it has seldom reached ‘one man team’ sort of levels thanks to the quality of the attackers frequently around him, Jarrod Bowen is still the player the Hammers look to when in distress.
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That explains why El Hadji Malick Diouf picks Bowen over the ‘world-class’ Lucas Paqueta an interview with the official Premier League YouTube channel, when naming the club’s standout performer.
Diouf was tasked with selecting two rivalling five-a-side squads made out of his West Ham teammates. After selecting himself in Team A, the players he chose to play alongside may offer a less-than subtle clue about who Diouf would rather have next to him on the team sheet. And also who he would feel more comfortable defending against.
It is perhaps no coincidence that Diouf picked Callum Wilson and Bowen to go on Team A, then, with Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug lining up for the opposition.
El Hadji Malick Diouf says Callum Wilson is ‘stronger’ than West Ham United rival Niclas Fullkrug
With four goals from six starts, Wilson has more Premier League strikes in a West Ham shirt than Fullkrug does, despite the latter getting a year-long headstart. The 33-year-old is proving that age really is just a number, providing a goal or an assist every 120 minutes on average.
“He’s good. Stronger. [And] he knows the league,” Diouf says when asked why he chose Wilson to lead the line for Team A. “A really kind guy. He gives us the experience.
“[But] ‘Fulle’ loves to fight, you know. He’s a good striker. He loves to win. They both have the same character, you know!”
A similar character, yes, but a similar quality? It is certainly difficult to imagine Fullkrug swivelling his hips and hooking a sublime first-time volley into the top corner, like Wilson did away to Bournemouth in November.
Diouf loves Bowen but likes playing with Crysencio Summerville too
As for the wings, Summerville has clearly benefited from Nuno’s arrival.
The manager coaxed career-best performances out of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga last season, while both Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola could not find an answer to Adama Traore’s maverick tendencies during Nuno’s Wolves spell.
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Yet, while his performances have been much livelier than under Potter, Summerville has not scored a Premier League goal all season. In fact, he has not scored one in 14 months. While Bowen’s tally of four is below his usual standards, West Ham’s number seven could only dream of producing numbers like that himself.
Sunday’s clash with Aston Villa would be a very good time to break that hoodoo.
“[Bowen and Summerville] are so good, so good,” adds Diouf, who has formed a promising partnership with the former Leeds winger down the left.
“[Summerville and I] have a really good connection on the pitch. I like playing with him. He’s quick, he can go one-v-one. I give him a good option to do it, with the overlap. I think he is a good player.
“You have to understand your [teammate] talk to him, make him comfortable. He is an important player.
“[But Bowen] I love him! He’s a really, really, really good player. He’s got everything; experience, talent, the finishing. He helps us a lot. I think he is the best man in the squad right now.”
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