- West Ham lost 3-1 to Newcastle United on Sunday evening
- The loss leaves the Hammers on the brink of relegation from the Premier League
- Jarrod Bowen says the team deserves criticism
West Ham United lost 3-1 to Newcastle United on Sunday and are now staring relegation in the face. The Hammers sit two points from safety with one game left, meaning that with Tottenham Hotspur yet to play, they can relegate West Ham on Tuesday night should they beat Chelsea.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s team failed to get going at St James Park, with two early goal ultimately killing the Irons chances. Jarrod Bowen told the club’s official website that the team deserves criticism, as they just have not been good enough.
“Today, it’s really difficult, but we’ve got no-one to blame apart from ourselves, especially for conceding the two goals in the first 20 minutes.
“The press that we did was all wrong, we were late jumping up to them and we were making mistakes. We’ve made too many mistakes, and again we’re in a position where we’re 2-0 down early on, from which it’s always an uphill battle.
“I don’t know how you explain it, really. You can look for excuses, but ultimately we knew what we were doing. We’d worked on it in the week, had meetings and knew what we wanted to do, but when the time came we just didn’t do it well enough.
“That could be down to a number of things, but I think we have to take responsibility as a team because we knew what we wanted to do, and we knew that if we gifted things to them, they’d thrive on it in the atmosphere here, and with their fans behind them.
“It’s hard to find the answers because you always want to try and solve it straight away, but ultimately we have to look at ourselves and hold our hands up.
“Then, in the second half, their third goal comes from a mistake at a throw-in. We needed to show a bit of game management at 2-0 and get that next goal, which is always going to be important because we know we can always create chances, but we conceded again and then it’s always going to be really difficult.”
It anything, pride at stake for West Ham
West Ham could be relegated on Tuesday if Spurs win, but a point for their London rivals would also all-but send the Hammers down with their inferior goal difference. For the Irons to stay up, they need results to go their way and will have to beat Leeds United on the final day.
“Obviously, we need things to go our way now,” he said. “You never want to be relying on different things and hoping for luck, but as it stands we still have an opportunity.
“We have to see how the game goes on Tuesday night, but no matter what, we have to turn up against Leeds next week, in our last home game of the season.
“We have to show pride and commitment, and what it means to play for this badge. The name on the front of the shirt is the most important thing, and we have to put on a performance for the supporters.
“The fans turn up week in, week out to support us. They’ve been brilliant, and we haven’t given them enough this season. We can’t give up in this situation, and whatever happens we’ll be determined to show a response next week.”
