Bowen has transformed West Ham United's attack

Since the arrival of Jarrod Bowen from Hull City in January, there has been a clear improvement in the attacking structure of David Moyes’ West Ham team.

After signing for a 20 million-plus deal, it took a few games for Bowen to find his feet at West Ham – making two substitute appearances away against Manchester City and Liverpool – missing an inviting chance to earn a valuable draw with a late missed chance in the latter.

He quickly made up for that miss, however, by scoring the opening goal on his home debut against Southampton just five days later in a 3-1 win. While predominantly playing on the left, Bowen has the natural instincts of a striker, hence his 17 goals for Hull this season, before moving to east London. This was the case for his goal, as he drifted into the box and made a run to latch onto Pablo Fornals’ through-ball, before cooly chipping over the Saints keeper.

While he is yet to add to that goal tally, his creative output has started to flourish, with three assists in his last two games, helping the Hammers pick up four crucial points to drift away from the relegation zone.

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Two of these assists have been come from out wide, with low-driven balls placed into the danger area with his weaker right foot, both times finding Michail Antonio to send home. His two-footedness is a key reason as to why he is so vital to West Ham’s attack, as the unpredictable nature to his play means that defenders can’t be sure which way he is going to go. This is in contrast to Andriy Yarmolenko – who while is lethal when cutting onto his left foot – tends to choose that option on a predictably regular basis.

His other assist came in the form of a corner, as he combined with fellow January signing Tomas Soucek to score on the stroke of half-time to go level against Chelsea. Alongside this, Soucek had another goal from a Bowen corner harshly ruled out in the same game, whilst he also set Declan Rice up to head onto the bar against Newcastle, before the Czech international yet again found the net.

With the absence of Robert Snodgrass, his set-piece ability is proving vital with the ammunition that the Hammers possess in terms of height and aerial ability.

On top of this, a delightful addition to his offensive talents has been his defensive efforts, as he constantly tracks back when out of possession and gives his right-back the cover that he needs. This displays the humility of the 23-year-old, as he knows that his job is not complete only in the final third.

With an inviting run of fixtures coming up for the Irons, it is a glorious chance for Bowen to keep up his tremendous form and add to the impressive output that he has been tallying up. This is not just individually, though, as he gives the likes of Fornals and Antonio an option to combine with, as proven since his arrival.

Next. West Ham Player Grades: Finally goals, but very little defending. dark

If he can help maintain the club’s Premier League status, Bowen has the potential to play a huge role in gifting West Ham a much-improved season next time around.

Bowen Has Transformed West Ham’s Attack

By Louis Pye | Jul 7, 2020

Since the arrival of Jarrod Bowen from Hull City in January, there has been a clear improvement in the attacking structure of David Moyes’ West Ham team.

More from Green Street Hammers - West Ham