West Ham star Konstantinos Mavropanos has been hailed a ‘world better’ but Jarrod Bowen was the big winner from England’s defeat to Greece.
West Ham fans could be forgiven for not tuning in to watch England’s game against the Greeks.
Hammers talisman Jarrod Bowen was shockingly overlooked by interim England boss Lee Carsley.
But he wasn’t alone in feeling hard done to.
West Ham’s Max Kilman has been superb this season and is just what England have been crying out for – a ball-carrying, left-footed centre-back.
Meanwhile Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been immense since joining the Irons too.
Wan-Bissaka has even showed he can play just as well at left-back – another problem position for England.
In Carsley’s wisdom, though, all three West Ham stars were overlooked.
Hammers star Bowen the big winner from England defeat
And everyone knows England win nothing without West Ham players involved.
Bowen has better statistics than a host of Three Lions call-ups.
He insists he will not let Carsley’s snub get him down.
There was still something for Hammers fans to tune in for, though.
West Ham defender Konstantinos Mavropanos was playing at the back for Greece at Wembley.
And Bowen was the big winner as West Ham star Mavropanos is hailed a ‘world beater’ in a dismal England defeat.
Anthony Gordon stunk Wembley out with a woeful display. Meanwhile Bukayo Saka didn’t fare much better on the other side and limped off injured in the second half.
Noni Madueke was ok when he came on but Carsley’s false nine experiment failed miserably.
West Ham star Mavropanos hailed a ‘world beater’
Ollie Watkins didn’t even get a start despite Harry Kane being rested due to injury.
All the game did was show just how good Bowen is and made a mockery of the fact he wasn’t called up.
Lee Dixon said it right in commentary – that sometimes you play your best games when you don’t actually play. And that’s the case for Bowen after this strange experiment from Carsley.
Bowen’s West Ham teammate put the boot in on the England pretender for the snub.
The big Greek was absolutely brilliant.
Mavropanos even scored in the first half but it was ruled out for a marginal offside.
Former West Ham target Vangelis Pavlidis – who played for AZ Alkmaar against the Hammers on their way to European glory last year – got the goals which gave Greece a deserved first ever win over England.
Make no mistake, though, Mavropanos was the real star of an excellent performance.
The West Ham man has been somewhat unfortunate to lose his place under Julen Lopetegui this season.
Jean-Clair Todibo was so good in his first two starts, though, that minutes may be hard to come by for the forseeable future in east London.
That being said Mavropanos did impress at right-back when coming on at Brentford.
Mavropanos has makings of Hammers cult hero
So his versatility may help him get game time at the London Stadium.
Mavropanos dominated England and had Lee Dixon absolutely raving about him on commentary.
“Mavropanos looks like a world beater today,” Dixon said on ITV.
“Most of the build-up play (from Greece) he’s not really involved physically but he’s commanding the midfield players in front of him.
“But anytime the ball comes near him in the box, the ball seems to hit him at some point. Positionally he’s been very good.”
It looked like being late heartbreak for Mavropanos and his teammates when Jude Bellingham fired home from outside the box. But Pavlidis struck in stoppage time to seal a thoroughly warranted victory.
There is a West Ham cult hero somewhere in Mavropanos. He just needs to find consistency and sharpen up some of his decision making when he next gets a run in the team.
As for Bowen, my how England could have done with the Hammers’ main man.
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