England and a pressing issue. Jarrod Bowen joins the debate.

England’s lack of sustained high-intensity pressing has been one of the debating points of their opening two games of these European Championship finals. Other teams press with more regularity and intensity. England don’t.

Jarrod Bowen wins his darts match in the media centre today.

England’s lone centre-forward, Harry Kane, has come under particular scrutiny but he’s not alone. It’s a collective failure. England have won possession in the final third only three times per 90 minutes here, contrasting with 6.8 times at their last tournament, the World Cup in Qatar.

Jarrod Bowen, who came on against both Serbia and Denmark, tried to bring some perspective and insight into an issue pressing in every sense. “It’s challenging to press for 90 minutes,” he said after training in Blankenhain on Saturday. “I don’t think any team can do that. It’s picking the moment.”

Bowen argued there was a “balance” to pressing as over-committing players had a risk. “Serbia were very direct, went forward (quickly) and we knew if we stepped on too much, the second ball would leave us open in the middle of the pitch. It’s finding the right balance. Dec (Rice) did one the other day (against Serbia), he won the ball back on the edge of our box (and England countered quickly). It’s finding the right moment to go.”

But the West Ham attacker acknowledged that if a team starts by pressing high and hard it might force the opposition to alter tactics. “As soon as you win the ball back a couple of times high up the pitch the opposition might go longer or think again about trying to play out from the back, when you get that success from it.

“You’re not going to get success all the time, it’s about sticking with it, and when you do win the ball back in dangerous positions (attack quickly) like we did the other night.” Kyle Walker won the ball high off the Danish wing-back, Victor Kristiansen, and set up Kane’s goal in Frankfurt.

       Bowen was a sensible choice by the FA to come out and talk in the wake of sustained criticism of the team’s laboured performances out here. He believes some fans’ disappointment stems from England having “set such high standards” in recent tournaments.

“We’re calm about it. We’re not sat here with two games, two losses, bottom of the group. We sit on four points, top of the group and in control of our own destiny. We don’t expect to win every game, that’s a bit of an arrogance. But we are always confident in our own ability to win. Our message to fans is keep sticking with it, keep showing the support you’ve done, because for me to experience it (the support) is incredible.”

He's looking forward to Tuesday’s final Group C game against Slovenia in Cologne. “We’re ready. I feel we are a team of winners. The mood’s really high and you try not to get involved in the outside world because what we've got is a real tight group, a real togetherness.”

He cares about England - “it’s an honour to play for your country” - and very competitive, accepting the pressure. “As a player you want to win every game you play. I've done that since I was four when I started playing football. I’m the same person now, still got that winning mentality. I don't think it is pressure. You want to take it on head first. You want to take that responsibility on. You want to take on that honour to play for your country.”

The 27-year-old blanks out the noise on social media. “If you want to be a winner, if you want to achieve things, you have to shut yourself away from that. I haven’t deleted my socials. I’m on there.” He just doesn’t look. Nor do some other players. “We’re not sat next to each other on our phones! We try to be a little bit more sociable than that!” He would advise any younger player to avoid scrolling through their mentions, some of them toxic. “If it was me saying to the lads, try and stay away from it, stay on the right mindset for what we want to achieve in this tournament.”

Denmark was Bowen’s 50^th game of the season for England and West Ham, taking his game time to 4,161 minutes, almost 70 hours. So how does he stay fresh?“Probably the twins keeping me busy! I just know what works for my body in terms of recovery. I’m doing something I love. I want to play every game.”

       He’s so committed that when he came on against Denmark Bowen immediately launched into a high-speed run and fell on the uncertain surface in the Frankfurt Arena. “I was running a bit too fast for my brain and tried to turn and just got my foot stuck in there and thought ‘oh no, I’m in trouble here’. I thought I broke my ankle but luckily I survived. ‘Walks’ (Kyle Walker) had a couple in the first 10 minutes where you could see chunks of ground coming up, a bit like bad divots if you hit a bad golf shot. It was definitely difficult. It’s not an excuse in the slightest.”

       His family were present, his dad driving his flag-covered campervan in and out. “He just parks up!” Bowen laughed. “I said ‘take the England flags down just in case!’ The windows might get put through if the wrong fans come across it!”

       Their advice to him was simple. “They tell me to enjoy it and play with a smile on your face.” England hope to put some smiles on fans’ faces in Cologne.