Jarrod Bowen praised the "togetherness" within West Ham United despite a tough start to the season as he reflected on the Hammers' impressive 2-0 victory over Newcastle United.
West Ham's captain played a vital role in their success at St James' Park, as he assisted Aaron Wan-Bissaka for the second goal.
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"The group we have is so good and there is a real togetherness. It's down to me to show the new players what it means to play for this club," Bowen said to Sky Sports after the match.
"Tonight, every player on the pitch understood the assignment. Full credit to our fans for coming up to Newcastle on a Monday night. We need to give them more moments. That was more like us but we have to build on this.
"I think we should be pushing for European football every year. We had three years at it and those are the standards and demands of this club.
"The team has been improved and those are our standards and what we feel like we can get to. We haven't been to those levels but it is not for the want of trying. Qualifying for Europe should be the benchmark."
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 |
Spurs
TOT
|
12 | +14 | 19 |
| 7 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
12 | +2 | 19 |
| 8 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
12 | 0 | 19 |
| 9 |
Fulham
FUL
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
| 10 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
| 11 |
Brentford
BRE
|
12 | 0 | 17 |
| 12 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
12 | 0 | 16 |
| 13 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
12 | -1 | 15 |
| 14 |
West Ham
WHU
|
12 | -4 | 15 |
"We have been disappointed with our start. We have to take responsibility and do our work and we haven't done that to a high enough ability this year.
"I said we needed a performance before the game and I think we did that. Newcastle always score at home so to keep them to a clean sheet and score two goals, it is an atmosphere that you have to control and I think we did that perfectly.
"That was more like the level of what it takes to play for this club. The desire and work-rate from everyone. A clean sheet away at Newcastle is not an easy thing.
"We have a massive game on Saturday against Arsenal and we need to be consistently winning games on the bounce. This is a start tonight and we can take a lot from the game tonight."
"It was a real big moment and this is a really big turning point in our season."