Jarrod Bowen pushes wheelbarrows through mud to stay fit – West Ham grafter should be England regular for Thomas Tuchel
DAVID SULLIVAN rates Dimitri Payet as his best signing as West Ham chairman.
Jarrod Bowen comes a close second.
Even the man at the top end of a Premier League football club can be dazzled by shiny diamonds in football.
But Sullivan pays for his team, he doesn’t pick it.
He is not a manager so it’s understandable that he can be seduced by the tricks and the magic of Payet, who was fascinating viewing – for good and bad reasons. Many of us were.
Lee Carsley is a coach and as England’s most recent manager is blessed with qualifications and know-how that should go beyond simply being entertained.
Hopefully, Thomas Tuchel isn’t so blinkered when he picks up the England baton from January 1.
Having pulled off what now looks a masterful deal for Bowen at just £22m, Sullivan would not sell Bowen for any price now, whereas Carsley clearly values him as a two-bob player.
Carsley referenced Bowen’s selection, or lack of it since September as a ‘debate’ in the build up to his last two matches in charge.
He recalled being approached time and time again in the street by frustrated Hammers fans who harangued him for overlooking their captain.
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The Cockneys never shy away from backing – or barracking – their players.
When uppity Payet demanded to leave, nasty graffiti appeared within hours on the walls of East London and 24hr security was placed around his life-size image on the outside of London Stadium.
A farmer’s son, Bowen pushes fully loaded wheelbarrows through mud during the summer to stay strong.
He is low maintenance and that’s probably his biggest problem.
Bowen turns up for England with no fuss – unlike nine of his Premier League peers who cried off with injury from the latest squad.
Even when evidently not first choice, Bowen stepped in without a murmur. He then sat calmly on the bench until brought on against Ireland and scored a classy goal with his first touch.
He has played as many domestic games as Cole Palmer. And in a struggling team has created 24 chances to Palmer’s 29.
Bowen has a superior shot conversion rate to Noni Madueke, and three goals and two assists compared to the Chelsea man’s four and none. He operates on the right and the left. He is versatile – what every manager wants and needs.
His numbers stand up to scrutiny against one of those preferred for England in the three months of Carsley’s reign.
He cost a fraction of the £100million Manchester City paid for Jack Grealish and you won’t find Bowen dropping less-than-cryptic criticism of a manager who might not fancy him.
Where you will find him in most games is back in his own box, defending for his life before leading the charge upfield once the danger is cleared.
Like an old-fashioned workhorse on his old man’s plot of land in Shropshire, Bowen grafts all day without a whimper.
He defends yet has also touched the ball more times in the opposition box this season than Anthony Gordon of Newcastle.
Sullivan, in conjunction with West Ham’s former manager David Moyes, plucked Bowen from Championship Hull in 2020.
The deal was just £14m up front with £8m in add-ons: a million quid after five competitive England call ups, same again for 15 Premier League goals in a season.
Sullivan oversaw the deal himself and will happily tell you that even though Bowen was new to the top flight he was no risk, because of his rock solid character.
If you ask, he will also confess that while Payet was a truly great footballer, Bowen is a better asset for his club. It should be the same for his country too.
TOURI BEHAVIOUR
RUBEN AMORIM has been wandering the corridors of Old Trafford on the official tour and been rightly impressed.
So much so that the new manager has openly urged his squad to do the same and drink in Manchester United’s vast history.
He said: “When the players come here, they should make the same tour. It is very important.”
Yes, it is. However, there have been swingeing cost cutting measures of late, orchestrated by powerful minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Job cuts, cutbacks on travel perks, the list goes on.
Makes you wonder whether those players that do actually take up Amorim’s suggestion of a guided tour will have to pay for it themselves? Awks.
GIVE ‘EM A BREAK…
THE Premier League returns on Saturday in the wake of England captain Harry Kane’s calls for it to resume a winter break for the overstretched players.
With nine high-profile players withdrawing from the most recent squad with injuries and getting a fortnight off in mid-November, it kind of has.
Let’s see if all those walking wounded who were too poorly to represent their country in the last two games, emerge from the tunnels this weekend looking bright-eyed and bushy tailed.
Fingers crossed for them.
BETTER LATTE THAN NEVER, TOM
TYPICALLY lots of fuss has been made of a German taking over the England team.
But the sooner Thomas Tuchel arrives the better. For no other reason than outgoing caretaker boss Lee Carsley has admitted to drinking soy latte.
The game’s gone.
GREEN LIGHT
WITH the UK in the grip of a cold snap, it hardly feels like the time to discuss climate change.
But there is one good news story from the world of sport that makes your heart warm while taking a tiny step in the right direction towards cooling the planet.
F1 is hardly a bastion of environmental positivity with fossil fuel guzzling at the core of its being.
But from 2026 the Canada Grand Prix is being brought forward from June to May in an effort to reduce emissions.
Switching dates means the race will run straight after the Miami GP, cutting out the need to lump all the trailers, freight and other gubbins home to Europe then back again.
Still a long way to go for F1 to go green and it won’t stop the flooding, heatwaves and tornadoes but it is something.
PAUL THE OTHER ONE
EVEN though Jake Paul’s farce of a fight has been universally derided by everyone except Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, it hasn’t stopped the world’s media from talking about it incessantly.
So, job done for all those involved.