West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen speaks on the positivity within the West Ham squad at the moment. 

The last eighteen months or so has been very negative at West Ham United, the end of David Moyes’ tenure and the whole of last season was a bad time to be a West Ham fan. However, we now seem to have really turned a corner under Graham Potter this summer, and Jarrod Bowen agrees.

Bowen spoke after the 2-0 win over Bournemouth the the PL Summer Series. He said: “We want everyone to be themselves when they come into training. We want them to give the best versions of themselves, but also to feel comfortable as well because we’re going into a high-pressure environment every single weekend. It’s something that both the manager, and me as captain, are really keen on.

“Some people might think it sounds silly, but I think you can see that vibe on the pitch as well. It means you’re a team of brothers going to war together, and it means you know you’re all doing battle together.”

From the videos we’ve seen from the club, the biggest character in the dressing room seems to be Niclas Fullkrug. He seems to be really uniting the squad, constantly making jokes and encouraging everyone, including new signing Malick Diouf who shone against Bournemouth.

Bowen said: “Myself and Fülle have been quite vocal with him (Diouf), and spoke to him about getting the ball in the mixer when he’s out wide.

“And you’ve seen what he’s capable of today. I sort of missed one but then I got the assist for Fülle’s goal, and then after that I got my goal.

“You just trust his quality, and know that it’s likely to be a perfect cross. It feels like he’s been here ages, even though it’s just a few weeks, but I think that’s credit to him because he’s such a nice person, and is really humble and hard-working.”

It’s great to see the squad getting on really well, it gives the fans something to be excited about. We haven’t had the most interesting of transfer windows and the fans are up in arms over the signing of Callum Wilson. But seeing the players all getting on and us winning matches over in the States is really getting people up for the season ahead.

“It’s been a great trip, and we’ve taken a lot from it” Bowen added. “We’ve played some good games, done some good stuff off the pitch, and I think we’re in good shape.

“We’ve got a good game to look forward to against Lille next weekend, and then it’s the Premier League, which we’re all looking forward to. We’ve got a really exciting couple of weeks coming up, and we can’t wait.”