The West Ham captain has given his early verdict on Friday's Premier League trip to Leeds United.
West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen has demanded his side ‘stand up’ to the Elland Road challenge on Friday after their miserable start to the Premier League season continued with defeat to Brentford.
Like Leeds United at Turf Moor on Saturday, West Ham fell to a 2-0 defeat with goals either side of half-time, but unlike their Friday evening hosts the Hammers could easily have lost by more. Brentford could feasibly have been three or four up by half-time after bombarding the penalty area with crosses and long balls, dominating their opponents physically.
Leeds will hope their similarly robust approach can cause the same problems when West Ham arrive at Elland Road on Friday, particularly given they’ve had an extra two days to rest and prepare. And Bowen knows his side are in for a tough challenge after another dismal home showing.
“It probably was how it looked. It was 2-0 but probably could have been more to them,” Bowen said of Monday’s defeat. “Ultimately we're not doing anything well this season, and that's shown in the league and the results.
“We put in a really, really poor performance. We play on Friday night up at Elland Road, which is 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. I believe that's the only resolution for the situation that you're in. You've got to roll your sleeves up and just dig in and work, and I’m confident things will change.”
Jarrod Bowen’s ‘confidence’ admission ahead of Leeds United trip
Leeds have placed a lot of focus on being effective from set-pieces, which will be seen as a great opportunity to score on Friday, particularly given they are not firing on all cylinders from open play. And Farke’s side will hope to exploit their visitors’ lack of confidence.
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“I think ultimately confidence comes from winning games and having good performances, and we haven't done that this season,” Hammers captain Bowen added. “That's going to be a low, but what we've got to do as a group 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. There's got to be no fear in this league. It's never going to be given to you, especially in the position that we're in now.
“I think I spoke before, and I said it's going to take us to get us out of the situation that we're in. That's what we've got to do. We've got to face up to the challenge. No one's going to do it for us. No one's going to give it to us. When we go on the pitch, it's players taking pride in their performances.”
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