The Hammers captain and England player has hit out after the latest failure
James Smailes
11:40, 21 Oct 2025
Nuno Espirito Santo, manager of West Ham United talks with Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville
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Nuno Espirito Santo, manager of West Ham United talks with Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville
West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen believes his side are playing with a fear factor as he calls for a change in belief ahead of facing Leeds United on Friday night.
The Hammers are now winless in their last five Premier League matches and sit 19th in the table with a return of just four points from eight games. Life under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo is yet to get going with just a point to show since he arrived last month to take over from Graham Potter.
A 2-0 win for Brentford at the London Stadium on Monday night was the latest failure from the Hammers, who are beginning to lose ground within the bottom three. Even a victory at Elland Road against Leeds won't be enough to lift them out of the relegation zone, with Bowen aware a change in approach is needed from his team-mates to claw their way out of the mess they are currently in.
In an honest assessment of where his side find themselves, Bowen admits confidence is low with the West Ham camp and the players need to find a way of releasing the fear factor, especially when heading into an intense atmosphere like the one created at Elland Road.
“Ultimately, confidence comes from winning games, having good performances. We haven’t done that this season," explained Bowen.
"That’s going to be low. We’ve got to do is trust what we’ve got in the changing room.
“We can’t be fearful in this league because if you’re fearful in this league, you’re going to lose games. I feel like that’s what we’re doing. We’ve got to rally together and take every challenge head-on.
“We put in a really poor performance. We play on Friday at Elland Road, a really difficult place to go. That’s a challenge that you’ve got to stand up to. Having played there before, it’s a difficult place to go.
“In this situation, you have to hit every challenge head-on. That’s the only resolution for the situation that you’re in. You’ve got to roll your sleeves up, dig in and work, and I’m confident things will change.”
With just one point from their last three games and having surrendered their unbeaten record to Tottenham Hotspur the last time out at home, Leeds have their own demons to exorcise when Bowen and co arrive later this week.
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