Saved by Bowen: 5/10 West Ham Man Should Never Wear the Shirt Again

West Ham United’s chances of securing European competition for a fourth consecutive season look slim as Saturday’s impressive draw against Liverpool in the Premier League widens the gap to seventh-placed Newcastle United.

Newcastle, whose season has been marred by inconsistency and injuries, sit four points clear in the final qualifying position in European football and have a game in hand against the Hammers.

With trips to Chelsea and Manchester City still to come for David Moyes, it seems like a wonderful piece of history is coming to an end, although Saturday’s result shows the immense quality of West Ham – and whoever takes over the club next season The dugout will – underlines – boast.

On the front lines: Jarrod Bowen. The England international is quite simply a brilliant and irreplaceable player.

Jarrod Bowen’s stats against Liverpool

Bowen has been in great form this season. In fact, that’s quite an understatement as the dynamic striker has scored 20 goals and provided ten assists, most recently one each against Liverpool.

The 27-year-old only managed to complete five passes against Jurgen Klopp’s deteriorating side, but that hardly matters given his skillful attacking touches and tenacious defensive effort.

In a system like Moyes’s, where West Ham are 15th in possession in the Premier League this season, such prolific authority has paid dividends – imagine Bowen operating at the heart of a more expansive and progressive brand of football could.

He must remain at the core of the United project, although the same cannot be said of Angelo Ogbonna, who struggled against the Reds and will have to follow Moyes should the Scot actually leave the London Stadium when his contract expires this summer.

Why Angelo Ogbonna must be abandoned now

At almost 36, Ogbonna has entered the twilight phase of his career and although he has been something of a regular for West Ham since signing from Juventus in a £10m transfer in 2015, the Italian is out of contract this summer and must extend it his terms would be a fatal mistake.

Having made 247 appearances for his east London club, the centre-back has been restricted to a supporting role in recent years, starting just five Premier League games this season.

And that is rightly so. His mobility has been lost over time, while his once robust skillset has seen him average just 0.9 tackles and 1.8 tackles per game this season.

Against top-flight opponents in Liverpool, Ogbonna’s understandable weaknesses were highlighted when the Evening Standard’s Dom Smith gave the veteran a 5/10 score and wrote: “Beaten in the air on several occasions and caught too high up as Liverpool were easy to reach.” past him in the first half. “Improved after the break and was unlucky to be involved in the own goal.”

According to Sofascore, the 1.90 meter tall defender managed five saves and four tackles against Liverpool, but only completed 64% of his passes and was dribbled past. Had Liverpool not been so wasteful, their problems would probably have become even worse.

With Konstantinos Mavropanos and Nayef Aguerd expected to return from injury soon, Ogbonna may have played his last game for the club, which will fare better with its younger and longest-lasting titans in the starting lineup.

Ogbonna was a brilliant servant for West Ham and was allowed to kiss the trophy before his departure, but that exit must come about this summer as the club prepares for a new era. Make it happen, Tim Steidten.