There are no prizes for guessing which West Ham United player has accumulated the most Premier League minutes under Nuno Espirito Santo and Graham Potter this season.
It’s not Lucas Paqueta.
Not after the Brazil international missed two of the last three matches through suspension.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka had a spell out of the team too towards the end of the Potter era. Max Kilman was ousted by Konstantinos Mavropanos last month. And while Nuno cannot speak highly enough of Alphonse Areola, West Ham United’s number one had to wait until September to make his first appearance of the Premier League campaign.
Jarrod Bowen, then, is in a class of his own when it comes to starting every one of the club’s 15 top-flight games.
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While we would not recommend betting your house on the captain making it 16 against Aston Villa on Sunday – a late knock picked up on the training ground would suddenly have you scrambling around for a last-minute Airbnb reservation – Bowen will once again be the first name on Nuno Espirito Santo’s team sheet.
Nuno Espirito Santo highlights Jarrod Bowen’s importance to West Ham United
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s clash against a Villa side they have not beaten since Pablo Fornals’ winner back in August 2022, Nuno indicated that he has few plans to rest his skipper, even as a gruelling festive schedule looms.
“I hope he’s involved every time, in every minute,” Nuno said. “What he gives to the team is huge for us. It’s truly important that he is there, and he leads by example. He is our captain.
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
“But you cannot rely on ‘ifs’. If the situation comes [when Bowen is unavailable], we have a group of players who can contribute the leadership.”
While the consistency of his performances has been impressive enough – although Bowen endured a goal drought lasting for eight matches until he broke his duck against Brighton last time out – they say the best ability is availability for a reason.
The England international has started a minimum of 34 Premier League matches in each of the last four seasons. Still their most reliable source of goals and creativity as well, El Hadji Malick Diouf believes Bowen narrowly edges Lucas Paqueta as the most important, influential member of the camp.
“I like to play with [Paqueta]. He’s really good, I think he’s like a world class player,” the left-back said this week. “He’s really, really good, yeah.”
“I love [Bowen, though]! He’s a really, really, really good player. He’s got everything; experience, talent, the finishing. He helps us a lot.
“I think he is the best man in the squad right now.”
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Nuno excited about Aston Villa challenge as he meets Unai Emery again
Diouf and Aaron Wan-Bissaka will leave for the African Cup of Nations following this weekend’s match against a Villa side enjoying their best run of wins [eight] since 1914.
“[Aston Villa are] a very good team with a very good manager and very good players,” Nuno added during his press conference on Friday lunchtime.
“They didn’t start the season well and look where they are now! We know we are going to face a tough test with very good quality. It’s a squad that has been together for some time with Unai Emery. You can see the patterns, the idea, the identity. A very good team, Villa.
“We know we are always going to face tough opponents, so there’s no big difference. We focus on ourselves, how we can compete and try to be accurate on the details we can pass to the players.”
“I have big admiration for Unai, and he knows that I respect him. One of us is going to be delighted! But it’s always based on respect and admiration.
“They have a very good group of midfielders that play,” Nuno agreed, talking up the qualities of Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn and Youri Tielemans. “We have our midfielders and, many times it’s a man-to-man situation.
“So we have to equal and maybe be better than them! If we can do that, maybe we can compete well.”
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