West Ham 4-2 Brentford: 'Unplayable' Jarrod Bowen stars in Hammers win

[CharlieH]

 

West Ham boss David Moyes has received a lot of criticism this season but even the most disgruntled Hammers fan cannot argue against his impact on Jarrod Bowen.

The England international has spent his career playing in wide positions but earlier in the campaign Moyes opted to deploy him as an out-and-out striker.

 

The outcome has been Bowen hitting 14 goals - his best return in the Premier League - and a first career hat-trick in the 4-2 win against Brentford on Monday.

It was the perfect time for Bowen to repay his manager's faith in him in that central role, with the pressure having been mounting on Moyes following a humiliating 6-0 home loss to Arsenal on 11 February and then a 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest six days later.

Brentford boss Thomas Frank described Bowen as "unplayable" on Monday and for the player himself he could hardly have timed it better, with England boss Gareth Southgate no doubt getting into the business end of determining who makes his squad for this summer's European Championship in Germany.

"It gets him back in the goals," said Moyes. "I'm sure if he scores like that he'll keep in Gareth [Southgate]'s mind.

"If you can play wide and you're a goalscorer you will be of interest to the international manager.

"Jarrod Bowen at times has looked that way but hasn't quite got the goals. Some of his performances recently have gone unnoticed because we haven't won.

"He was Johnny on the Spot and got the goals. He was a threat in other ways too."

 

READ MORE