Jarrod Bowen says West Ham’s relegation worries were “starting to creep in” last season with the club now on the brink of losing their Premier League status.
West Ham will be relegated on Tuesday night if Tottenham win at Chelsea, live on Sky Sports, and a draw for Spurs will all but confirm their fate ahead of the final day on Sunday.
Bowen has told Sky Sports their season has been a “catalogue of errors” which stretches back to last term under Graham Potter, who took over from Julen Lopetegui in January 2025 before being sacked last September.
Tuesday 19th May 7:00pm
Kick off 8:15pm
Bowen said: “I think you’ve got to look at that because it’s been three years this summer since we won a European trophy. Even that season, we finished 14th, we weren’t that great.
“The season after we finished up in the top half of the table and from then, we finished 15th last season. We weren’t great, but we got ourselves out of it.
“It’s not like this season has just come straightaway. It was starting to creep in a little bit last season. But we thought we’d be better this season. Obviously, we had a new manager, then we changed manager after a few games.
“New players coming in. You never want to sit here and give excuses. That’s not what I’m about because ultimately it’s us. It’s all on us. We’re the ones that play.
“You can be set up in a way that you can do things. But when you cross that line, it’s your 11 players on the pitch against their 11 players on the pitch. That’s ultimately what it is. And we just haven’t played well enough. We haven’t been good enough as a group.”
Bowen shows the strain during West Ham’s match at Newcastle
Bowen has also been critical of his own performances this season, scoring eight league goals and providing 10 assists in 37 appearances.
“I haven’t played to the standards that I know that I can,” he said. “I’m big enough to accept that. I just haven’t played well enough.”
Bowen says he will be watching Tottenham’s crucial match against Chelsea on Tuesday night.
“You have to watch the game. You can’t avoid it. You can’t try and hide away from it,” he said. “Because ultimately you’re going to find out the result one way or the other.
“It was always in our hands for the last few weeks. Now that’s been taken out of our hands. So we have to sit there and watch it and watch the result, whatever it is, and we have to deal with that in the way that we do.”
Bowen and Jacob Ramsey battle for the ball
Bowen has been linked with a move away from the club even if West Ham avoid relegation, but he will not decide on his future until the season has finished.
“I’ve done it since I’ve been at Hull. I sit down at the end of every season and think, what’s best for me? What do I feel? What’s my gut feeling? And then make a decision and go with it there,” he said.
The 29-year-old also hopes to be part of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for the World Cup when it is announced on Friday.
“It’s probably one of the biggest weeks in my career,” he said. “So it would be wrong for me to start looking past into the next few weeks and start putting my energy elsewhere.
“I love this club. I have a lot of care for this club. So I want to put all my energy into this week.
“A lot of stuff gets printed. That’s what happens in social media and in newspapers these days. A lot of false things get put out there.
“When there’s time to speak and time to address different things, then it will come from me because that’s how I work.
“I’m quite honest. I’m quite open. I’ll always address different sorts of things. But for me now, my energy has to be into this week. There’s no other way.”
Watch Chelsea vs Tottenham live on Sky Sports, kick-off 8.15pm
