West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen could an get England start vs Denmark as Rio Ferdinand makes a bold call about Arsenal star Bukayo Saka.
When it comes to the England team, club rivalries always come into the thinking of fans.
Jarrod Bowen is West Ham’s representative in England’s Euro 2024 squad where he is competing with Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka for a starting spot.
It wasn’t that long ago Hammers fans found themselves having to constantly speak up for now Arsenal star Declan Rice when he first broke into the Three Lions side.
There is no real love lost when it comes to how West Ham fans in particular feel about England boss Gareth Southgate.
Southgate has consistently snubbed West Ham players down the years. And he took him far too long to give Bowen a chance too.
The England boss also angered Hammers fans earlier this year when he declared Declan Rice had taken his game to another level since leaving West Ham for Arsenal.
Bowen’s impressive England cameo
That is something Rice completely refuted in a conversation with former Hammer Rio Ferdinand.
In fairness to Southgate he did pick Bowen for his Euros squad and rightly so given his brilliant form for West Ham again last season.
Many Hammers fans feel Bowen should be pushing Saka for a starting berth by rights.
Saka did create England’s goal in the drab opening game win over Serbia. But the Gunners star boy and England were pretty awful in a typically defensive and uninspiring affair once England had taken the lead.
Thankfully, though, Southgate saw sense and brought on West Ham’s top scorer a few minutes later.
Within one minute Bowen managed more than Phil Foden and all Southgate’s other favourites combined, creating a gilt-edged chance for Harry Kane to seal the match only for the goalkeeper to save his header.
Bowen was excellent and did not put a foot wrong during his 15 minutes on the pitch.
He was widely praised after it was revealed he was the only England player to create a bona fide big chance in the match.
Bowen could get England start as Ferdinand makes bold Saka call
And Jude Bellingham said it all about Bowen with what he did after the game.
Since the match it has emerged that left-back Luke Shaw is still no closer to a return and Kieran Trippier is now also a doubt.
So West Ham’s Bowen could get an England start against Denmark as Ferdinand makes a bold call about Arsenal star Saka.
England face Denmark on Thursday evening and Ferdinand believes Southgate is ‘bang in trouble’ if Shaw and Trippier are both out.
Ferdinand has therefore suggested that Saka be played as an auxiliary left-back whereby the Arsenal ace becomes the left-winger when England have possession.
That would therefore open up the right-wing for West Ham’s man on fire Bowen.
‘Play Saka left-back’
“Yeah, if Shaw’s not fit then 100 per cent, we’re bang in trouble,’ Ferdinand admitted on his podcast FIVE, which you can see below.
“We would have to put Saka at left-back. I’d play Saka at left-back then I would.
“If you ain’t got Shaw and you ain’t got Trippier then I would play Saka at left-back. I’d play it where as soon as we get possession Saka is a left winger.
“Did you see how many times he stood up the full-back and destroyed him, like skinned him?
“I thought Saka was really good. First 45, the wing-play he showed… you know what I liked about it? He mixed it up. He didn’t always come inside. He went on the outside a couple of times.
“The defender didn’t know which way he was going to go but second half, when they put pressure on us, that was the problem. We didn’t respond well to that.”
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