Captain Jarrod Bowen believes West Ham United’s impressive 4-1 victory over Ipswich Town demonstrated the perfect response to recent disappointment, both from a team and an individual perspective.
The Hammers went into their last clash before the October international break having fallen to defeat in each of their three previous Premier League games at home, and with just one win to their name, away at Crystal Palace in August.
Missing out on Lee Carsley’s England squad in midweek was a personal blow for Bowen, who has won 12 caps for the Three Lions and featured at UEFA Euro 2024, and had started the domestic season with two goals in eight games in all competitions.
But he and his teammates used all that frustration to help power them to a fine performance and three-point haul against the Tractor Boys at London Stadium, with Michail Antonio netting by the 47-second mark to get things up and running.
Liam Delap equalised for Ipswich shortly after, but a Mohammed Kudus strike close to the break put the Irons back in control, before Bowen and Lucas Paquetá put gloss on the scoreline before the end.
“It was much better today, and that was what we needed,” said Bowen, who was announced as the official Man of the Match after emerging from the clash with an assist as well as his goal.
“We all knew what it meant to us to put in a positive performance and get a positive result before the international break, and we spoke about what we needed to do. We’ve been on the end of some early goals, and it was good for us to get up and running from the start even if we weren’t happy when they levelled things up.
“Mo scored at the perfect time, because 1-1 is always a dangerous scoreline, and we spoke at half-time about getting the next goal and putting the game to bed. We managed to do that, thankfully.
“I never need any extra motivation to perform, and the England news was just one of those things, but you either let these things eat you up or you go and show what you’re about. My mindset has always been the same, and for the Club as well, we’ve been in a bit of a difficult situation, but to a man we’ve gone out there and got the job done today, which is great.”
While Bowen’s strike marked his third of the campaign, Paquetá got his second and Antonio and Kudus each etched their names on the scoresheet for the first time in 2024/25, which will breed plenty of confidence among the attacking ranks going forward.
And while many members of the squad will now jet off to join up with their national sides, Bowen insists the hard work will continue for those due back at base over the next two weeks ahead of the return to action away at Tottenham Hotspur in two weeks’ time.
Our No20 added: “I think it was a really good all-round team performance. I’m really happy for Mo, Mick and Lucas, and I think there were good performances in defence and midfield as well. Like I said, it was the positive performance we needed.
“You don’t want to be on the end of a defeat going into an international break, and thankfully those that are going away now will be going away happy.
“For us sticking around, we’ll keep going at the training ground ready for what will be a big game against Tottenham. Hopefully we can avoid injuries on all fronts, and kick on from this performance going forward.”
