Decked out in hard hats and hi-vis jackets, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio are standing on the building site for West Ham’s charity headquarters.
Set to open in the spring, it is a work in progress. In many ways, the same can be said of the club’s start to life under new boss Julen Lopetegui.
The Hammers have taken just five points from their opening six Premier League games and, for the first time in their history, started the season with three consecutive home defeats.
The last of those came against Chelsea, where Lopetegui’s players were booed off by their supporters. They were then thrashed 5-1 by Liverpool in the Carabao Cup, though the scoreline was perhaps harsh given Lopetegui’s side had been in the game until Edson Alvarez was sent off in the 76th minute, with two of Liverpool’s goals coming in added time.
Bowen and Antonio know the London Stadium can be a hostile place when things are not going well. The hard hats would probably have come in handy during the darker days of David Moyes’ reign. But both players have also been involved in some of the best times West Ham fans have ever enjoyed.
Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio are trying to recapture their recent European success
The Hammers are currently on a downer but the two stars see it as part and parcel of football
There is already pressure on Julen Lopetegui with West Ham having won one of six games
Bowen scored the goal in Prague that brought home the Europa Conference trophy last year while Antonio netted six times on the way to that final.
The aim under Lopetegui is to bring those European nights back to east London as quickly as possible. It is a journey that may be paved with some difficulties and suffering along the way, but both players are confident it is one they can navigate.
‘As a team, you always have to go through bad times,’ Bowen tells Mail Sport. ‘We haven’t won as many games as we would have wanted and we’re in a disappointing phase at the minute. The expectations are so high and we have high expectations as players. We want to win every game, we know that’s not possible but I think there’s a lot more to come from this team.’
Antonio has had four managers during his nine years with West Ham, including two spells with Moyes. He knows all about having to adapt to new styles of play and Lopetegui’s philosophy is one he believes needs to be given time to flourish.
‘One thing I’ve realised with this club is that the fans demand a lot,’ Antonio says. ‘They always want us to win every single game and that’s understandable.
‘But where we are right now, with the transition stage that we’re going through, learning a completely different style of football, there’s going to be shaky moments and we’re in those shaky moments now.
‘What we’ve learned over the last four years playing under David Moyes, he (Lopetegui) wants to play a completely different structure.
‘We want to play more expansive, we want to keep the ball more. Because we’ve been playing a certain way for so long, learning something new is not just going to happen overnight. You can see a lot of positives in the games that we have been playing.
Antonio has pleaded with ‘demanding fans’ to recognise they are in a ‘transitional’ moment
Bowen hopes to recapture the form that saw him score 20 goals in all competitions last season
West Ham had huge success under David Moyes but moved on due to play style frustrations
‘We’re not getting the results that we want but if people give us a bit of time to learn the way that we’re playing, I think we will come good because I see the positives, I see how we’re keeping the ball better.
‘Even the League Cup game where we lost 5-1 against Liverpool, I think there were certain stages in the game where we were keeping the ball, popping it around them, putting pressure on them and creating good opportunities.
‘If it was all negatives then I would understand why people would get frustrated. But right now, I think there’s so many positives that are coming from the games. If you give us a bit of patience and a bit of time, things will come good and we will be pushing for the top again.’
Bowen was named West Ham captain by Lopetegui during the club’s pre-season tour of the United States and it is a responsibility he does not take lightly.
‘Everyone looks at you as the captain and it’s my role to lift people. Ultimately it starts on the training pitch on a Monday morning, going out and training well, being the best player in training so people look at you in that way.
‘We’re a changing room where we want to do well, we’ve got a really good group, everyone is a captain in their own way. But for me to be the official captain is a really proud moment for me and I’m looking forward to being here for many years.’
The forward comes across as a laid back, almost shy personality, with Antonio chirping in: ‘Jarrod has been quite quiet over the last couple of years so it’s good to hear a voice from him now!’
Bowen, though, has clearly grown in confidence since making his £20million move from Hull City in January 2020, quickly firing back at his team-mate: ‘I’ve stepped into the role, I was waiting for it!’
Danny Dyer is ‘not what I expected’ says Bowen, who is due to marry his daughter Dani
Bowen and Dyer announced their engagement in July on a romantic yacht holiday
Antonio, laughing, admits Bowen has been ‘quality’ since taking on the armband while Bowen jokes: ‘Mic’s my enforcer, he’s my go-to man because he’s more scary than I am!’
Speaking of ‘scary’ characters, Bowen’s future father-in-law is EastEnders actor and West Ham fan Danny Dyer. But while the actor’s characters are often hard men, Bowen, who is engaged to Dyer’s daughter Dani, insists he’s a soft-touch at heart.
‘He’s definitely not what I expected when we first met,’ Bowen laughs. ‘He’s a brilliant man who has been in my life for two-and-a half… I better not get this wrong or I’ll be in the doghouse, two-and-a-half-years – and it obviously helps him being a West Ham fan as well. We’ve got a really good relationship.’
Luckily that relationship has not been soured by the X-rated terrace chant regarding Bowen and Dani and their nocturnal activities. Danny has laughed it off as ‘romantic’.
It was a memorable summer for Bowen, who proposed to Dani after being part of the England squad that reached the European Championship final. Asked which situation was more nerve wracking, Bowen, who has not been included in this squad but is determined to fight his way back in, says: ‘I don’t know! I feel pretty calm about most things, I’m quite a laid back character so I was quite calm about both. Luckily the proposal went well!
‘On and off the pitch it’s been really good. In the last year we’ve had two twin girls, and obviously I had my first international tournament. I think going in the first place was one thing, you always want to play but you never think the opportunity is going to come so to play the games that I did was a really proud moment. It was just gutting that we lost in the final. When you’re so close to winning, to fall at the last hurdle was really disappointing. But to be part of the whole experience was a really proud moment for me.’
Bowen understands the increased responsibility to be a leader after being named captain
‘Jarrod has been quite quiet over the last couple of years so it’s good to hear a voice from him now!’ jokes Antonio
What West Ham fans may not know is Bowen’s own father, Sam, had a brief trial with the London club while Harry Redknapp was manager in the 1990s.
‘I always get the story wrong with how it started and ended but he had a little trial that didn’t materialise to anything major,’ Bowen says.
‘He was playing non-league for Merthyr Tydfil and came on trial, there was a couple of things with money, West Ham wanted to sign him but they were asking for too much money and then it just kind of fell on its head.’
Bowen and Antonio are speaking to Mail Sport in Beckton, Newham, the site of the club’s award-winning Foundation headquarters.
The £4.1m state-of-the-art project will see the footprint of the current building treble, allowing the club to serve thousands of children, young people, adults, families, elderly residents and hard-to-reach groups and individuals.
‘I’m a person who came through foundations,’ Antonio says. ‘I played at Chelsea Kicks, I played at Fulham community and it definitely helped shape me into the person and the player that I am today.
‘There’s a lot of societal problems and I put part of that down to a lack of facilities, with youth clubs and playgrounds closing down.
‘I feel like a Hub like this, where there’s going to be so much for members of the local community to do, can really help people.’
Antonio is targeting Mark Noble’s Premier League club assist record of 39 and is six away
The site promises to deliver a thriving safe space which is accessible and open to everyone.
‘To come here and see how it is and what it’s going to be and what’s going to be offered around here as well, I think it’s really important for the club,’ Bowen adds.
‘We do the work on the pitch and try to bring the good times to the fans but off the pitch is really important as well, to create that real family bond and keep everyone in it together. This is a massive opportunity for that.’
While the importance of West Ham’s work in the community is a topic the pair are united on, there is a growing yet friendly rivalry between the two forwards over their goal records.
Antonio, who is out of contract at the end of the season and is not yet close to a new deal, is West Ham’s all-time leading scorer in the Premier League and is about to start talking about how long he would like to keep that record before Bowen interjects: ‘For now! I’m coming for his record, we were talking about this two minutes ago!’
Antonio has 67 goals in the top flight for the Hammers, 23 more than Bowen, who is seven years his junior. ‘He’s got some years on me but I’m going to make it a record that lasts as long as possible,’ Antonio laughs.
‘As far as I can, I’m going to keep pushing it back and make it difficult for him. To be honest, it’s one of those things where, if he does take it, I’d be happy for him. I’d be upset, but I’d be happy for him.
‘Jarrod is a quality player and he deserves it. He’s a proper professional… he does get a lot of goals, I’ll give him that. But I’m the first of the new era to do it so he’ll be the next. I’ve got a lot of other stuff over him right now! I’ve got a few more records – like first player to get 100 goal contributions, it’s always best to be the first!
Bowen’s dad trialled at West Ham while Harry Redknapp was in charge but it came to nothing
‘I’m six away from Mark Noble’s assist record, these are the things I’m going for.’
Bowen then pipes back in: ‘Let’s see how many assists he gives to me! If he wants the assist record but gives them to me and I get the goals, he’s in a predicament!’
Antonio replies: ‘I need to get the assist record because I need to beat Noble. If I beat that and Jarrod beats me, I’m going to have to accept it. But I’m going to make it as difficult as possible for him in that time.’
Antonio laughs at the thought he could stop passing to Bowen the closer his team-mate gets to his goal record.
‘Once I get the assist record maybe I’ll start doing that,’ the forward jokes. ‘But until then he’s safe in front of goal!’
With newly-promoted Ipswich the visitors at the London Stadium on Saturday and West Ham desperate for a first home win, both forwards had best ditch the hard hats for shooting boots.