For the last few years at England level, Jarrod Bowen’s biggest problem has been the form of Bukayo Saka.
Indeed, while West Ham United fans are obviously going to say they want to see Bowen start ahead of the Arsenal star, Saka’s continued inclusion ahead of him was certainly understandable.
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West Ham star Jarrod Bowen registered an assist in England's 5-0 win over Latvia
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However, the sheer amount of praise that Thomas Tuchel has given to Noni Madueke might be bad news for Bowen ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
That’s not to say that the West Ham skipper won’t go to the tournament, just that Tuchel’s glowing verdict on Madueke – who was forced off injured and replaced by Bowen in first half – may now suggest he is in fact first in line to back-up Saka.
Tuchel praises Madueke amid Bowen battle
Madueke proved slightly better going forward than Bowen for England against Uruguay, although there wasn’t really much in it.
When speaking after the game, Tuchel made a big play of praising Madueke’s outing, while admitting that he didn’t necessarily want to bring Bowen on so early at Wembley.
With only a few months left until the World Cup takes place, there is not much time for Bowen to change Tuchel’s thinking.
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Speaking to talkSPORT, Tuchel said: “He [Madueke] was electric, he was on fire. He was ready to go from the start and we built the structure for him to go 1v1 and they play almost man-marking, so I think it was a matter of time until he could make the difference for us.
“Very, very sad, I hope [Madueke’s injury] is not too bad.”
Tuchel then added: “We had to rush into substitutions, which we would have liked to take later in two slots and suddenly we lost the slots, so it cost us a little bit.”
England v Uruguay - International Friendly
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Bowen could be third choice for England
There’s obviously no suggestion that Bowen won’t go to the World Cup, just that it now seems as if Saka and now Madueke are ahead of him in the pecking order.
That does feel somewhat harsh given Bowen has scored more goals than both Arsenal stars at club level this season, despite playing in a team struggling against relegation right now.
It also feels like Bowen has rarely been given a chance to actually impress for his country despite such consistently good form at club level for years now.
Indeed, Bowen has been overlooked by Tuchel for England and his recent comments on yet another competitor surely suggest that is likely to continue.
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