West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen says fears of relegation began to ‘creep in’ last season as the club now faces the real prospect of dropping out of the Premier League.
West Ham will be relegated if Tottenham win at Chelsea on Tuesday night, with a draw for Spurs all but sealing their fate ahead of the final day. Bowen described the current campaign as a “catalogue of errors” that stretches back to previous seasons, pointing to instability and poor form that pre-dated the present crisis.
He referenced the managerial changes and the wider decline in results, noting that Graham Potter had taken over from Julen Lopetegui in January 2025 before being sacked last September. Bowen said the problems “weren’t like this season just coming straightaway” and that issues were “starting to creep in a little bit last season.” He added that the club had hoped to be better this year despite a new manager and new signings.
Bowen was blunt about responsibility. “You never want to sit here and give excuses,” he said. “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.”
He also criticised his own form this season. The 29-year-old has scored eight league goals and provided 10 assists in 37 appearances, but said: “I haven’t played to the standards that I know that I can. I’m big enough to accept that. I just haven’t played well enough.”
Bowen confirmed he will watch Tottenham’s clash with Chelsea on Tuesday and said it is impossible to avoid following the result now that West Ham no longer control their own destiny. “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,” he said.
Speculation has linked Bowen with a move away from West Ham even if the club avoid relegation, but he insists he will decide on his future only after the season ends. “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.
On an individual level, Bowen is focusing on another major moment: he hopes to be included in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad, which is due to be announced on Friday. “It’s probably one of the biggest weeks in my career,” he said, explaining why he will concentrate fully on the immediate fixtures rather than media speculation about transfers or other matters. “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. For me now, my energy has to be into this week. There’s no other way.”
Tuesday’s Tottenham vs Chelsea match kicks off at 8:15pm and will be watched closely by West Ham players, staff and supporters as it could decide the Hammers’ top-flight future.