By George Edwards
James Ward-Prowse. Left arm in the air and stood at a 90-degree angle from the ball. The outcome? Inevitable. Pinpoint accuracy and pace, never failing to hit the target. Gareth Southgate take note.
His threat was shown when Nottingham Forest fell victim to the midfielder’s brilliance at the London Stadium last weekend, conceding two goals from his venomous set-piece deliveries and falling to yet another away defeat.
Ward-Prowse is a name that we’ve become familiar with over the years, being Southampton’s saving grace many a time during the back end of their Premier League career. But he’s always seemed to have been forgotten about. The 27-year-old scored nine goals and grabbed four assists in a dire Saints side last season, and completed more passes than the likes of Fabinho, Mac Allister and Odegaard, yet he started the season in the Championship before West Ham eventually swooped.
And how they won’t be regretting that. Ward-Prowse has 11 goal contributions in 16 games for the Hammers, with only James Maddison and Kieran Trippier creating more chances per 90 in the Premier League this term.
He instills fear into his opponents every time he shapes up for a delivery; often teams bring extra men back to try and defend his crosses, rarely stopping the magician from carrying out his tricks. He is sometimes labelled a set-piece merchant, something that is crudely unfair. Ward Prowse pops up all over the park, with little one-twos and first-time passes that many midfielders would struggle to complete. With a 90% pass success rate, Ward-Prowse also has a 69% tackle success rate showing the various elements of his game.
Various elements that you would think would be rewarded with much more than the mere 11 caps in six years that Ward-Prowse has to his name- Harry Kane has had 69 caps in that period for perspective. The Englishman has never been able to cement himself as a regular in the squad, let alone starting eleven, a baffling fact given international squads now have room for 26. Perhaps the best in the world at what he does, Ward-Prowse being repeatedly omitted from Gareth Southgate’s selections shows why many fans are tired of the manager and his loyalty. While it has served him well in some cases, arguments can be made to suggest that Ward-Prowse should be a regular feature of England’s football team, an argument that I wouldn’t fight against.
댓글