Jarrod Bowen’s comments on Andy Irving prove some West Ham fans have got one thing totally wrong about him. West Ham United captain Jarrod Bowen has made a hugely important observation about his teammate Andy Irving.
Jarrod Bowen is the star man at West Ham, so everything he says must be taken seriously. And that bodes very well indeed for Andy Irving – the Hammers cult hero who has really endeared himself to the fans at the London Stadium this season. Whilst the 24-year-old may not be supremely gifted technically, he does work his socks off for the team.
He has an incredible work ethic, and is often the last player to leave Rush Green after training.
Irving recently admitted that he found it difficult to adjust to the speed and intensity of Premier League football.
So the fact that he’s putting in the hard yards to try and improve says a lot about his character and mentality. Are those two things enough on their own to make it in elite level sport though?
Jarrod Bowen’s Andy Irving praise proves one important thing
The Scottish midfielder has actually been a West Ham player since the summer of 2023. However, we have only seen him in a Hammers shirt competitively 10 times, for a total of 173 minutes.
Graham Potter is clearly prepared to give Irving a big chance to impress during the final few months of the season. And Bowen is adamant that Potter’s faith in the Scot will prove to be well-placed.
The Hammers captain offered huge words of praise for his teammate, as quoted by The Athletic:
“Andy’s worked incredibly hard and been incredibly patient,” he said. “I get on really well with Andy. I’ve had a lot of chats with him and always told him that I know his time will come because I’ve seen it in training. He looked comfortable. He looked at home with it and I know there will be many more (appearances) for Andy.” There you have it. Bowen thinks Irving has what it takes to make it at the very highest level.
So have the majority of West Ham fans, myself included, got it completely wrong about the ‘Irn-Bru Iniesta’?
Jarrod Bowen says Andy Irving does have a future at West Ham
My personal view on Irving is that he is a decent footballer, but not someone who can move the needle for us.
He doesn’t make enough progressive passes or ball carries for my liking, just four and ZERO respectively in the Premier League this season (Fbref).
However, Jarrod Bowen clearly thinks Andy Irving has a lot to offer West Ham.
The 28-year-old Hammers skipper sees the Scot in training day-in, day-out, so he is obviously in a far better position than me to give his opinion on what the midfielder brings to the club.
The fact that Bowen thinks Irving is comfortable playing Premier League football tells me a lot about the former Austria Klagenfurt and Hearts man. Perhaps I’ve got it wrong all along and Irving will end up succeeding with West Ham in the Premier League. Only time will tell.
