Jarrod Bowen admits being an England international brought on a new kind of pressure that had an impact on his form with West Ham United.
The winger’s contributions in front of goal were a key part in the Hammers finishing seventh in the Premier League and reaching the Europa League semi-finals last term.
Bowen scored 18 goals and provided 13 assists in 51 appearances in all competitions and rightly earned a call-up to the Three Lions for the first time in May last year.
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A first international cap came his way in June, with Bowen featuring in all four UEFA Nations League matches against Hungary (twice), Germany and Italy that month.
But the former Hull City man has this season struggled to recapture the form that caught the eye of England boss Gareth Southgate. Bowen netted just two goals in the 14 Premier League games leading up to the announcement for the 26-man squad for the World Cup in Qatar, which was not enough to convince Southgate to include the West Ham winger.
Post-World Cup, the Hammers’ poor form in the Premier League and Bowen’s struggles in front of goal have continued. But the 26-year-old looked back to his best in Saturday’s crucial win against Everton, netting both goals in a 2-0 victory.
Bowen admits he has had to deal with pressure he has not faced before, but he is looking to thrive on it. “Being an attacker there’s always pressure to create and score goals and when you’re not delivering, questions are going to be asked,” said Bowen.
“It’s about your mindset and the person you are to keep going and know what you can do. It’s just been about keeping going, never hide from it, never slump and keep always looking forward.
“I think it’s been a different pressure for me. The first couple of years no one really knew what they were getting from me, coming from the Championship. After coming off the back of playing for England people look at you in a different light.
“For me, I try not to get caught up in it too much, I try to keep playing my game. Sometimes things don’t fall for you, things don’t go into motion the way you want.
“[Saturday against Everton] goes to show: making that run on a gamble for a flick-on to get on the end of it, it shows if you keep at it, keep going, things will drop for you.
“I just think there’s a different expectation and a different thing that comes with it. It was the first time I’d experienced international football, I loved it but it was all new, all different.
“If you don’t score in a few games, people start asking questions and they’re probably right to do that. But I’d never dealt with that before so it was about me dealing with something so different and so big I’d never had before. But you’d rather be in that position of having that different pressure, playing for your country and coming back and people expecting more of you. I thrive off that pressure, as well.
“Yes, I haven’t been delivering as much as I want to be but every time I go on the pitch it’ll never be that I’m hiding or slumping. Everything’s for this club. Individual things will come with it.”
Overall, the winger has seven goals to his name after 27 appearances in all competitions, which is actually two more than what he achieved in as many appearances last term.
But Bowen admits he has not been in the best of form this season and that he perhaps has a point to prove to get himself back into the mix of the England set up after the disappointment of missing out on the World Cup.
“Maybe yeah,” he said. “I was disappointed, I was close. I looked at it in a different way. Yes I was disappointed, of course. I was gutted with some of my performances not to get there.
“But I looked at it as, I came to the club two and a half years ago and we are talking about a World Cup spot. You have to look at it in a different eye, because then you can add too much pressure on yourself. That’s what I did at the start of the season.
“I knew it was so close. As much as you want to put the World Cup at the back of your mind, you know you are so close, you know it is such a big opportunity that may never come again so of course I was playing with a little bit of fear and anxiousness and that is normal.
“I don’t think I dealt with it very well but I will learn from that, I have got no regrets about how I approached anything or did anything. It was just all new. I had never had that international experience before.
“I am disappointed I didn’t go to the World Cup, but three years ago I was playing for Hull City in the Championship. You have to look at it in different ways. I have got my four caps and I am massively proud of that, and I have got however many appearances for West Ham so far and many more to come.
When asked on the lessons he learned in the build-up to the World Cup, Bowen added: “It is just putting it properly to the back of your mind. It was there, and as much as you try to chuck it away, it is always chipping away at you. When you are playing you are trying to do things safely rather than playing your game. You want to look good instead of doing what you normally do to look good.
“It is hard to explain it and people listening will just say: ‘Well you should have just played your game’. Of course, it is easy to say that but until you are in it, when you know you are so close, you try to play safe and try to not make a mistake so someone can’t say: ‘You didn’t deserve that’.
“You then end up playing worse than you were. That was the case for me. I am honest about that. I am not going to hide away from that. I am not bothered. But I looked at it before in a different light and I am disappointed I didn’t go to the World Cup, but I am sure there will be plenty more opportunities if I keep scoring and playing well.”
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