Jarrod Bowen scored the winner for West Ham United against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.
West Ham were awful in the first-half, but we were so much better after the half-time break, and Jarrod Bowen scored the all important goal from the penalty spot in the dying the minutes to win us the match.
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Crysencio Summerville was the real hero on the day, after he changed the game when he came on as a half-time substitute at the London Stadium.
The 22-year-old scored our first goal and his bromance with Mohammed Kudus on the touchline and in the tunnel after the game was clear and obvious to see.
Julen Lopetegui should have started Summerville from the get-go. Instead, he opted to play Carlos Soler out wide on the left – a dreadfully poor decision that the Hammers head coach surely won’t be making ever again.
Bowen and his teammates were nowhere near the levels required during the first 45 minutes, but the former Hull City man geed up his teammates during the half-time break.
It was a vitally important win in the end for the Hammers, but something that Bowen said after the game was concerning to say the least.
Stunning Jarrod Bowen admission after 2-1 West Ham win
The Hammers skipper hasn’t been anywhere near his best for the Hammers this season.
However, he has still been one of our better performers.
Bowen has four goals and two assists to his name in 11 games for the Hammers so far this term (Transfermarkt).
That’s a decent return, but I expect him to start contributing regularly with goals and assists in pretty much every game between now and the end of the season.
However, I do think that Bowen’s comments after the win over Man United on Sunday were rather delusional.
The 27-year-old spoke to reporters after the match and came out with a baffling statement, as quoted by WHUFC.com.
Bowen said, “I think we’ve played better than we did today in other games and not come away with anything, but we stuck it out and we’re all really pleased with the result. Credit to the players and to the fans that stuck with us until the end – we needed that lift, and hopefully we can keep progressing going forward now.”
I have to say, I would like to know the games we’ve lost and played well that Bowen is talking about.
Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester City and Aston Villa have all beaten us in the Premier League this season.
Then Liverpool spanked us 5-1 in the Carabao Cup.
And I would suggest that we’ve been pretty woeful in all five of those matches.
It’s time that Bowen got real. The Hammers have been dreadful on the whole this season, and big improvements are needed if we are to enjoy a successful campaign.
Lopetegui now has blueprint for success
The Spaniard surely now knows his best team, without the suspended Mohammed Kudus and the injured Niclas Fullkrug of course.
Summerville has to start out wide on the left with Bowen on the right and Michail Antonio through the middle.
The midfield three should be Guido Rodriguez, Edson Alvarez and Tomas Soucek for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, the back four picks itself, with Jean-Clair-Todibo partnering Max Kilman in the middle, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson Palmieri in the full-back positions.
In addition to that, Lukasz Fabianski did enough to retain the number one goalkeeping spot.
From now on, I only want to see Lucas Paqueta being used as a luxury option from the bench.
Lopetegui has no excuses now – he must start getting a tune out of this team.
And Jarrod Bowen must realise that what he and his West Ham teammates have produced this season on the whole is nowhere near good enough.
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