Jarrod Bowen exclusive: ‘Difficult’ Julen Lopetegui departure, Graham Potter’s ‘calmness’ and scoring for England

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In an exclusive interview with TNT Sports, Jarrod Bowen lifted the lid on what life under Graham Potter has been like at West Ham following the “difficult” departure of Julen Lopetegui. He also discussed his England journey and said the Hammers need to back up their impressive win over Arsenal when they host Leicester City in the Premier League on Thursday night, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

Bowen ‘honoured’ to follow in footsteps of ‘legends’ by captaining West Ham

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Jarrod Bowen has opened up on what Graham Potter has brought to the club since he replaced Julen Lopetegui in the dugout.

West Ham host Leicester City – live on TNT Sports and discovery+ – on Thursday night in the Premier League, coming off the back of an impressive win over Arsenal at the Emirates.

The Hammers are adapting to a new era under Potter, with Bowen admitting the departure of Lopetegui had been "difficult".

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The Spaniard gave Bowen the armband, after all, and the 28-year-old was nursing the worst injury of his career when the ex-Real Madrid boss was relieved of his duties.

"Losing him was a difficult time because in football there’s so much change and managers are the ones who get changed more than players," Bowen told Joe Cole in an exclusive interview with TNT Sports.

"I had a really good relationship with him, so it was difficult to see him leave."

'He’s a really calm character' - Bowen praises Potter's impact since joining club

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Following an ill-fated stint with Chelsea, Potter is the man entrusted with taking the Hammers forward, and there have been signs the tide is starting to turn in the right direction.

Asked by former Hammer Cole what Potter has brought to the squad, Bowen added: "He’s a really calm character and a really good man manager.

"It’s always difficult talking about a new manager when an old manager has left like 'he does this, he doesn’t'.

"I think the manager has come in and just brought a calmness and we’ve changed the structure a little bit. We’ve gone with five at the back a lot of times, [sometimes] three at the back.

"It’s just different ideas the lads are listening to every day. Obviously performances help with that confidence to carry on.

"There have been a couple games since he came in where we haven’t got results and we’ve actually been OK in the game. I think the Villa game in the FA Cup, which was his first game, I thought for the first half the lads were excellent.

"For the lads to pick it up that quickly and then 24 hours later you’re playing a game so that was great to see. We’ve just been working every single day and some games aren’t going to be perfect, we know that, it’s the Premier League."

Potter feels West Ham should not have a ‘ceiling’ – ‘We should have ambition’

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West Ham sit 16th in the table but are crucially 13 points clear of the relegation zone after their win over Mikel Arteta's Gunners.

Embracing the underdog tag is one thing, though. It’s another thing to rise to the pressure of being favourites and meet the expectations of an impassioned fanbase.

That is the immediate goal when Potter and his charges welcome Ruud van Nistelrooy’s struggling Foxes to the London Stadium.

"We’ve obviously gone to Arsenal on the weekend and won 1-0," Bowen continued. "We’ve got another game now to back that up.

"Thursday is a different game [as] people probably expect us to win. Now it’s almost us taking that pressure and going, ‘Right, we’re expected to win here’.

"But we respect Leicester as a team. It’s a different mindset to Arsenal. We went away there and knew it would be a different type of game.

"Now we have to go in knowing we’re probably favourites and back that up with a performance like we did on Saturday. That’s the benchmark."

Bowen's ‘incredible’ England journey

Bowen also reflected on his England journey. His form for West Ham during the 2021/22 season had many tipping him for an international call-up, but he refused to get swept away by the outside noise until it actually happened.

"Before you get that call-up, I think you always wonder if you’re good enough," he admitted.

"But once you get the call-up it gives you a bit of confidence to know you are good enough to play for England then it’s down to you to go and show it."

'Lead by example' - Bowen on what kind of captain he wants to be

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He made his debut in a 1-0 defeat to Hungary on June 4, 2022, and has since earned 14 caps for his country. Just pulling on the iconic jersey is something he describes as "incredible", but the Herefordshire man dreamed of finding the net for his country.

"I always think if my career was to finish tomorrow, what have I done? The only thing missing was scoring for England," he continued. "Last camp I wasn’t selected in the squad and then [there were] a couple of injuries and [players] pulled out.

"In football you need a bit of luck and for things to go your way. I think when that phone call came, there was an opportunity to go there and I said to my dad at the time, ‘There’s an opportunity to score here’.

"I don’t think you look at it as 'you weren’t called up in the first place', being called up in any situation for your country is an honour."

He grabbed his chance in style. Coming on as a substitute against the Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Nations League last year, Bowen scored with his first touch of the game, finishing off a brilliant set-piece move to put England 4-0 to the good.

"Going there and [it was] obviously the Ireland game at Wembley. The main thing for me was scoring for my country.

"I think I had 14 caps and I’d never scored so to actually score was probably a relief as well, to just say that I’ve done it, I’ve scored for my country.

"That was the main thing I was waiting to tick off."

When is West Ham v Leicester?

West Ham host Leicester in the Premier League on Thursday, February 27.

Kick-off is at 20:00 UK time, with live coverage on TNT Sports 1 and discovery+ starting from 19:00.

How to watch West Ham v Leicester

TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.

West Ham v Leicester will be live on TNT Sports 1 with coverage from 19:00 UK time on Thursday, February 27, ahead of kick-off at 20:00.

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