As bad as things may seem at West Ham United right now, at least they have a captain in Jarrod Bowen who will not accept such mediocrity lying down.
Any hope West Ham United may have had of kick-starting the Nuno Espirito Santo era with a debut home win quickly went up in smoke on Monday night.
Keith Andrews knew Brentford could ‘hurt’ the Hammers with their physicality and formidable set-piece presence. And so it proved. The home side needed Alphonse Areola at his absolute best, not to mention a timely intervention by their own crossbar, to keep the scores level heading into the final few minutes of the first-half.
That luck would run out, though, just before the break.
An incredulous Jamie Carragher saw Max Kilman fail miserably to cut out a long ball over the top, and Areola this time had no answer to Igor Thiago’s finish. Mathias Jensen would add a second in stoppage time, following a second-half in which West Ham barely threatened an equaliser.
And, speaking to the club’s official website, skipper Jarrod Bowen knows that something has to change. Preferably, starting with Leeds United at Elland Road this Friday.
Jarrod Bowen sends defiant message to West Ham United ahead of Leeds trip
Not only will this be a serious test of Nuno’s managerial mettle, the character in West Ham’s dressing room is also destined to come under the microscope once again.
“I think ultimately confidence comes from winning games and having good performances, and we haven’t done that this season,” Bowen admits. “That’s going to be a low, but what we’ve got to do as a group is trust what we’ve got in the changing room.
“We can’t be fearful in this league because if you’re fearful in this league, you’re going to lose games. I feel like that’s what we’re doing. We’ve got to rally together and take every challenge head-on.
“There’s got to be no fear in this league. It’s never going to be given to you, especially in the position that we’re in now. I think I spoke before, and I said it’s going to take us to get us out of the situation that we’re in.
“That’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to face up to the challenge. No one’s going to do it for us. No one’s going to give it to us. When we go on the pitch, it’s players taking pride in their performances.
“We put in a really, really poor performance. We play on Friday night up at Elland Road, which is a really difficult place to go. That’s a challenge that you’ve got to stand up to.
“Having played there before, it’s a difficult place to go. In this situation, you have to hit every challenge head-on. I believe that’s the only resolution for the situation that you’re in.
“You’ve got to roll your sleeves up and just dig in and work, and I’m confident things will change.”
Bowen reflects on Brentford defeat on a bad night for Nuno Espirito Santo
For the first time since replacing Graham Potter, the West Ham fans expressed doubts over Nuno’s leadership and team selection. Starting Ollie Scarles and Kyle Walker-Peters on the wrong side was odd enough, before you even mention the benching of El Hadji Malick Diouf. Freddie Potts was also forced to sit out, with Andy Irving and even Guido Rodriguez selected ahead of him.
The returning Jean-Clair Todibo was abysmal alongside Kilman at centre-half too, ensuring that a fine display from Areola in goal was required to keep the score down.
“It probably was how it looked. It was 2-0 but probably could have been more to them,” admitted Bowen. “I thought we started the game well, were on the front foot and got a few corners and a few set-pieces of our own.
“I felt we started really well. I thought we defended as a whole set pieces well, and we had our luck at times.
“I think when you’ve not been at home for three weeks or so now, the first one back after the international break we wanted to start well and get the crowd on their feet. Obviously to score a goal would have been the icing on the cake, but we didn’t do that.
“We started well, and then they came into the game and had their moments. I think we just had to stay in there, as they put a lot of pressure on us from corners.
“I think it’s one of those where you’ve got to look back at it, watch it, as difficult as it is.
“You’re only going to get better by watching the things that you haven’t done so well. It felt like that in the game, that they had better chances and that they got in better areas of the pitch.
“Like I said, it’s time to reflect on it, see it back and start putting it right to what we’re doing. Ultimately we’re not doing anything well this season, and that’s shown in the league and the results.”
