West Ham United signed Hull City talisman Jarrod Bowen on deadline day and his former side’s performance against Brentford shows just how big an impact he has been having.
On the chalkboard
The Tigers were playing their first match since Bowen’s departure, which saw him agree a five-and-a-half-year contract at London Stadium.
It may have been against play-off occupiers Brentford, but Hull were shocking in this game, losing 5-1, which was largely down to a Said Benrahma hat-trick.
The fact that they were missing Bowen’s influence seemed pretty clear, as they managed just one shot on target all game, while they struggled to get any sort of hold on the match, having just 35% of possession.
While that will be highly frustrating for Hull, it should be an encouraging indication of how Bowen can help the Hammers climb the table following his move. Having scored 16 times this season, it’s clear that he was having a major say in proceedings. Perhaps the Tigers’ loss is West Ham’s gain as they battle to overcome a difficult period themselves.
However, any Hammers fans watching will have also felt sympathy for the club’s academy graduate Reece Burke, who had a nightmare of a game after departing the London Stadium permanently in 2018.
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Shocking performance
Any defender playing in a team that concedes five goals is likely to come under some questioning, but Burke really did have a torrid time on Saturday as Hull didn’t only struggle in the final third without Bowen.
The fact they only scored once without West Ham’s new man was telling, but to concede a handful of strikes was appalling. Burke, in particular, was poor – something that showed exactly why the Hammers were right to get him off their books.
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He was largely at fault for the first goal of the game, as he ducked out of the way of Benrahma’s strike, which ended up going past George Long. That left the goalkeeper visibly confused and annoyed.
Following on from that, he scored an own goal for the second of the game when he panicked in his six-yard box and headed the ball into his own net off the inside of the post. At the time, it looked as though there were minimal levels of pressure on him.
The 23-year-old also looked uncomfortable on the ball, completing just 50% of his attempted passes throughout the 90 minutes.
All of this meant he received the lowest WhoScored rating of any player on the pitch, with 5.3, after what was a shocking performance.
As Bowen arrives, the Hammers can thank their lucky stars they let Burke depart a few summers ago.
Meanwhile, West Ham fans reacted to Bowen’s arrival.
