West Ham pair Jarrod Bowen and Declan Rice have been called up by England manager Gareth Southgate for the Nations League matches against Italy and Germany later this month.
While no one was surprised by Rice’s inclusion, the decision to select Bowen after the forward’s poor start to the season has raised a few eyebrows among supporters on Twitter:
Bowen’s proper blagged that. Fair play tho
— Nick whufc Battey (@battey12) September 15, 2022
bowen somehow snuck in
— janto (@jantofn) September 15, 2022
This is good for his confidence tho hopefully he gets back in form
— . (@preeing771) September 15, 2022
Bowen is a very lucky man
— Me (@WHNCW) September 15, 2022
Idk how Bowen is there but happy for him
— Rcblue (@rcblue5) September 15, 2022
How's he gone and done this then 😂😂 go on tho Jarrod
— . (@preeing771) September 15, 2022
Wow he’s lucky Southgate must not want to dent his confidence
— James Stearn (@JamesStearn2) September 15, 2022
How’s he done that then
— J o e (@NotJoeBryson) September 15, 2022
Bowen can certainly count himself lucky to be included. It suggests that he is still in Southgate’s plans for the World Cup but he will need to do a lot more to justify his inclusion in the final 23-man squad that will fly out to Qatar.
In terms of the rest of the squad, five Manchester City players have been named including John Stones, Kyle Walker, Kalvin Phillips, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish. Two Arsenal stars Aaron Ramsdale and Bukayo Saka have been selected after the Gunners’ strong start to the season, with four from Chelsea (Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Mason Mount, Raheem Sterling) also being picked.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is Liverpool’s only representative, while Manchester United duo Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw also made the cut despite not being regular starters for their club.
