A rested Jarrod Bowen, alongside several senior West Ham regulars, will rejoin the battle to stay in the Premier League when the Irons take on the Cherries at the weekend knowing that just three points separates them from Nottingham Forest who take on Liverpool after a trip to Fenerbahce on Thursday.
In a World Cup summer, Bowen will have half an eye on the March International break and be hoping to force his way into Thomas Tuchel’s reckoning again.
He will have been helped by Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta’s recent positional switcheroo that has seen Bowen’s England competitor for the same shirt, Bukayo Saka, moved to a central number eight role.
Intriguingly this could open the way for England to play both left footed, right sided players in the same team if Tuchel follows suit.
Claiming the positional switch for Saka a success, and something that might work again, the standard.co.uk suggests it is a new option for Arteta’s attacker:
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Rather than lining up in his usual position on the wing, Saka started in midfield as the right No8.
He played his part in a fluid Arsenal attack that scored all four goals in their 4-0 win inside the opening half an hour.
Although the decision to start Saka only came after a late problem to Calafiori, the chance to experiment was one Arteta has been looking for.
*“Yeah, that’s something that’s a possibility, and I wanted to try it and we might use it in the future,*” Arteta said.
“When he’s there, he can really hurt you with the ball. “
With Bowen’s ability to operate as a striker – a back up to Harry Kane – and Saka’s development as a possible number eight, the duo could offer Tuchel multiple options in attack: Combining both in the same squad could then pay dividends for England.
It certainly offers Bowen extra motivation – if any were needed – to fire on all cylinders at club level before the England friendlies against Uruguay on March 27th and Japan on 31st.