In recent weeks, Graham Potter has found a variety of ways to put points on the board in the Premier League, beating Arsenal 1-0 in one fashion, followed by a 2-0 victory against Leicester in a completely different fashion.
The English coach was unable to make it three wins from three, as his side fell short in a 1-0 loss to Newcastle at The London Stadium, despite having 51% of the ball and levelling the Magpies’ shot tally of nine.
Many West Ham fans are hopeful of the future under Potter and sporting director, Mark Noble, has stated he and the new Hammers boss have a “great relationship”.
Noble is certainly still a valuable asset to the club and his career on the field was pretty special…
What made Mark Noble such an icon at West Ham
Despite starting off in the Arsenal academy system, Noble eventually moved to the West Ham academy, becoming the youngest player to ever appear in their reserve team, aged just 15.
In his 18 years of senior football, Noble made a staggering 550 appearances for the Hammers. In that time he scored 62 goals – barely ever missing from the penalty spot – and provided 58 assists across 42,332 minutes played.
Former boss David Moyes was a huge admirer of Noble, hailing the midfielder as a “great example” for younger players, playing at the top level for such a long period of time and conducting himself in the right way.
Although he never wont a major trophy at Upton Park and beyond, he is remembered as a legend after retiring at the end of the 2021/22 campaign. That led to Declan Rice taking over as club captain.
However, since Rice also left in the 2023 summer window, the Hammers needed a new leader to step up.
Thankfully, it looks as though they’ve found one, and he may just be a tiny bit better than Noble too…
West Ham have struck gold with their “real leader”
Rice was the poster boy of West Ham, until he wasn’t. Having lifted the Conference League, the midfielder craved further trophies and so, in controversial circumstances, left the London Stadium behind, joining Arsenal for £105m.
Where was the next star going to come from? Well, it’s come in the form of the man who scored the winner in that Conference League final, Jarrod Bowen.
West Ham signed Bowen from Hull City in the January 2020 transfer window, for a fee of around £18m with an additional £7m of potential add-ons. Since then, he’s soared to new heights, now reportedly valued at around £100m by the Hammers.
A different profile of player to Noble, of course, but he has already surpassed the midfielder’s statistics in claret and blue. Since joining the club, Bowen has made 228 appearances, scoring 68 goals, providing 43 assists and featuring for 18,012 minutes played.
The winger has been an important fixture for the Irons this season, playing a variety of roles, often having to fill in as a make-shift centre-forward due to the injury troubles of Michail Antonio and summer signing, Niclas Füllkrug.
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Bowen 2020/21 vs 2024/25 comparison |
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|---|---|---|
|
Stats (per 90 mins) |
2020/21 |
2024/25 |
|
Goals |
0.27 |
0.35 |
|
Assists |
0.21 |
0.16 |
|
xG |
0.25 |
0.26 |
|
xAG |
0.18 |
0.21 |
|
Progressive Carries |
2.91 |
3.48 |
|
Progressive Passes |
1.54 |
3.18 |
|
Shots Total |
1.88 |
2.83 |
|
Key Passes |
1.02 |
1.76 |
|
Shot-Creating Actions |
2.77 |
3.86 |
|
Successful Take-Ons |
1.26 |
1.59 |
|
Stats taken from FBref |
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When comparing Bowen’s first full season at West Ham (2020/21) with his season so far (2024/25), you can see the vast improvement the England star has made across the board.
He’s providing higher output (despite lower assist numbers), having more of an effect in build-up with his progressive metrics and improving in all of his creative metrics such as key passes, shot-creating actions and successful take-ons.
Michael Brown was full of praise for the England international speaking on Football Focus, labelling the West Ham man a “real leader” back in 2023 and at the start of the 2024/25 campaign, Bowen went on to be named club captain, succeeding Kurt Zouma.
With the forward now 28-years-old, already in the England set-up and West Ham’s skipper, the possibility of the forward staying in East London for his entire career cannot be discounted, especially when considering his father-in-law is quite possibly the Hammers biggest fan.
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