Must admit I have slated him in the past. Not saying he is rubbish, just that he wasn't good enough at the moment to be included as a first choice however.............Just like and Tadic he has come good in the past 3,4 games and he has been excellent. Come to think of it Davis and Pelle have picked up form over the last 2 games as well.
Saints don't often play with an out and out no10, instead playing three "midfielders" and three "forwards". We now have a wide variety of midfielders at the club which we can play in various combinations to give us tactical flexibility. JWP is capable of playing the most advanced role instead of Davis, but may now have found his best position as a deeper-lying playmaker (and RK commented as much after the Norwich game). He can also be played out wide to shore up against a particularly tricky winger or to exploit weaknesses with his crossing ability (with one of the forwards then playing through the middle with Pelle). I still think Clasie and Davis will be picked ahead of him more often than not when Clasie is fit, but I was worried at the start of the season that we didn't really know what to do with him and that he would fall away this season, so I am pleased he has started to carve out and role for himself as an additional option.
Everyone has played just that little bit better. The key has been to how we've adapted to the loss of Schneiderlin and shored up the defence. The rest has flowed from that. And having confidence is better than buying a star player.
Isn't the point of this thread that there is more to Ward-Prowse than free kicks? I think it is his corners and balls into the box, more than his direct, at-goal, free kicks which people rate. The main thing we're loving at the moment is his overall involvement in the match. And Willian's free kick was clearly not intended to go in. It was a good whipped cross which he overhit. Why has it been sold as a brilliant finish in the press? He has that embarrassed, disbelieving look straight after it!
And to his credit, he did just the right thing. Swung that delivery in, aiming roughly at the far post. Tell the kids every week that is where to deliver it. If someone runs in and heads it in, great cross. Keep has to parry it, rebounds there for the talking. Or, it goes in. So, it was a brilliantly taken free-kick.
JWP, for me, was a great young talent that is developing into his talent and although his rise may not be exponential, it is growing in a very positive manner. Hugely diligent player with high intelligence and a desire to succeed. Credit to himself and his family. I think he will succeed to a high level in the EPL and hopefully with us.
He was just waiting for Steven Davis to get back in the habit, like the polite young man he is. Now he'll get on with it himself.
That makes any shot have some "luck"... Ask Bobby Charlton... He used to hit in the general direction of the goalie as he said he'd be near the goal.
Actually, those crosses that go low and bounce in are less about luck. This particular cross was over hit and no one could get near it - making it a poor cross - but went in. That's lucky!
Go back to my original post on it. If Jose is as good a coach as me )) improbable as that seems, then he would tell him to take it like that, thus making it a good free-kick again We could be here all day with this
This reminds of my coach when I was little. He got really fed up with us skying PK's over the bar and otherwise missing horrendously, so he made us spend an entire half practice just taking PK's. He told us all to aim right for the keeper's belly and just kick it as hard as we could. We were like "Why kick it right to him?" And he was like "Because you are all terrible and will miss by at least three feet. So pretty much if you aim right for the keeper you will end up putting it right in a random corner somewhere." We all refused to believe we were that bad, so finally he said "Okay, look. If you nail it right at him, he will miss it because he will most likely dive. And if he does get it by some chance, you'll hit it hard enough that it will just bounce straight back to you and you can put away the rebound." We thought that was rather clever and bought it. So we followed his instructions accordingly. Turns out he was right the first time and we all missed by like a yard high and two yards left or right and ended up scoring just about every time. I never missed a PK again.* *Disclaimer: As a horribly mediocre midfielder, I was never the PK taker. Or even in the first five for shootouts. As I result, I only ever took two PK's. But I did score both times!
I was always taking penalty kicks for various teams I played for. Honestly cannot ever remember missing. I used to put them into the corners and the keeper wouldn't get near them. Then one match we were awarded a penalty [this is during a schools league match] and as I was about to start my run-up I overheard Gary Holmes' [our captain - where are you mate.?] Dad shout, he never misses.! It put me off for a second, and instead of putting the ball into one of the corners I nutmegged the keeper who didn't move. That got the biggest cheer I ever received from taking a schools penalty because the crowd thought I'd meant it [confession time.!].
