Next week marks a decade since Jarrod Bowen’s debut for non-League Hereford Town, and the forward’s inspiring rise to the top of the English game would probably not have been possible without David Moyes.
The West Ham boss plucked Bowen from the Championship four years ago and has turned the 27-year-old into an England international — likely to be included in Gareth Southgate’s squad today — and one of the Premier League’s leading marksmen.
As the Hammers prepare for another big European night under Moyes, Bowen is bemused by criticism of his manager, who is permanently a poor result or two away from fresh speculation over his future and grumbles from sections of the fanbase.
“There’s always going to be people you can’t please, people who think they want this or that,” Bowen told Standard Sport ahead of this evening’s Europa League last-16 decider against Freiburg at the London Stadium.
“I can only speak for when I’ve been here. When I arrived (from Hull), we were in a relegation battle. We stayed up and the following two years we finished sixth and seventh.
“Okay, last year we finished poorly in the Premier League, but we won a European trophy, so no one will remember the league position. This year, we’re in the mix for European places again and a win away from a European quarter-final.
“You can’t please everyone — and if you try, you’ll be trying for a very long time. But I think what we’ve achieved in the four years, you cannot argue with it. I don’t see how anyone can see it any differently.”
Some fans do have an alternative view, and the pressure on Moyes would inevitably ramp up if the Hammers cannot overturn a 1-0 deficit against a side they twice beat in the group stage this evening after their conservative approach backfired in Germany last week.
“We’re ready,” said Bowen. “There’s a game-plan and everything that goes with it, but a quarter-final is at stake and we have to show how much we want to be there. I know all the lads want another run at a European trophy. There’s not much more to say. It’s down to us.”
There are no mixed feelings among supporters about Bowen, who may not be West Ham born and bred but has become one of the club’s favourite sons, assuming the mantle from Mark Noble and then Declan Rice as the embodiment of the link between dressing room and terraces.
He wrote himself into West Ham folklore with the winner in the Conference League final last season and said he would gladly finish his career at the club.
“I’ve only been here four years and there’s fans that have supported this club longer than I’ve been alive, but I feel like I’ve got an understanding of what it is to play for this club and what is required to be a success,” Bowen said.
I’ll always follow this club, even when I finish playing
“I’ve always been quite open in speaking about how I feel and what the fans require, and I think they respect that. I feel like a bit of a talisman. They’re different from any other fanbase, I think. They’re so loyal and passionate about what they want from a squad.
“Nobes and Dec were a really big two in terms of West Ham’s history and what they represent on the pitch. If I can try to follow — and they’re both huge shoes to fill — I’ll do what I can. I’m half married into a West Ham family, too. So there’s West Ham all around me. I’m a West Ham fan without being born in London.
“I feel part of the fans, I’ll always follow this club even when I finish playing. It’s a great club to represent and be part of. It’s only been four years, it feels like much longer. If I can stay here for 10 years plus, then happy days.
“You just want to write yourself into history as much as possible,” he continued. That’s what I want to do, keep my feet on the ground, keep bringing those really good moments to the fans and when I retire I can look back on them.”
Bowen is playing with the added motivation of battling for a place at a major international tournament for the second season in a row, after missing out on the winter World Cup midway last term. He admits to feeling the pressure in the build up to Qatar, but believes he is now a more consistent player ahead of this summer’s European Championship.
“I was probably overthinking it [before the World Cup],” he said. “You think there’s different pressure from your own fans, that they expect you to come off the back of playing for England... and that’s just down to me. I had no pressure, I had nothing going on.
“It was just down to me thinking I had to do more to show why I was an England international. So I tried to do too much when really I should have just done what I did to get in the squad in the first place.
“This season I feel like I’m doing it more on a consistent level, and to be a top player that’s what you have to do.”
