James Ward-Prowse

I would have JWP in the team over Davis for his dead ball ability. I also believe he will soon start finding the back of the net and that is certainly not Stevie D's strongest asset.

 

Think Ian must be confusing me with someone else, I never likened JWP to Schneiderlin or Lallana....in fact I said he wasn't flashy. It would only be worth comparing him with those two if we had all three players and had to sell one, but he is a PL standard player.

 

JWP is undoubtedly a solid player worthy of a place in our squad. There's no obvious weakness in his game although there's not (yet?) any obvious stand out strength. His set pieces and passing aren't quite outstanding yet but could develop into stand out strengths and his shooting from distance seems to have improved significantly this season.

If he can continue that improvement and regularly score 5-10 goals a season he'll be a very good player for us. Equally, if he can push the quality of his passing and set pieces even higher he could be as important to Saints as Beckham used to be for England in qualifying. Pinpoint crosses and passes into the penalty area would be incredibly useful when we have to break down teams who come to St Mary's with a plan to sit back and defend - something we'll hopefully have to get used to in future.

Even if he doesn't become a star in the first team at worst he can occupy a Phil Neville or Nicky Butt at Man Utd type role. A solid squad player who can be relied on to step into the side and put in a 6 or 7 out of 10 performance.

 

How can there not be weaknesses in JWP's game? Every player has flaws, and it is particularly hard as a midfielder where you have to do a bit of everything.

JWP can't score. He is not that good at beating people off the dribble (though he is good at retaining possession). He is small and lightweight so not particularly good in the air. He's not a strong tackler.

Which is not to say that he doesn't have major strengths to offset those flaws. Or that he can't still improve in all areas. Just that he definitely has what to me are rather obvious flaws.

I would put JWP and Clasie in the same tier. They both have a certain... class, I guess... to their games that you don't see in every player. And that is what gives both of them so much potential. But they both have some flaws and in both cases they are physical issues so that is something they can never do anything to fix, only try to overcome.

As it stands, they are both pretty decent PL midfielders. Could start for a lot of teams. It doesn't at all stink when they are in the lineup, but I don't get giddy at the thought either. They have both played enough now where I don't think a massive leap forward is guaranteed. But because they are already good enough to where they really don't hurt the team, and because they have that elusive "je ne sais quoi" quality to them, I am in favor of trying to play them both as much as possible, and hopefully they will continue to improve.

But at the same time, I have to say that I would not be terribly surprised if for either of them, it turns out that where they are now is as good as it gets.

 

He scored one against Hull about 18 months ago.

 

A pen? I'll youtube it.

 

By no weaknesses I'm not suggesting he's an all round top player or that there's nothing to improve. I really mean there's nothing that I would say he's really poor at, given his position. Obviously there are things he's better at and things he's not as good at. He's not very good in the air but I wouldn't say that's a big deal for a relatively attacking midfielder.

In terms of tackling he's becoming more aggressive, more of a hassle and harry player so he's reached an okay level for me, given that he's not a defensive midfielder. Strength is a similar story I'd say. While he's not strong, I wouldn't really say he's weak and he plays a position where that isn't as important as it is in others. I assume none of our coaches have seen strength as a glaring weakness either. If they did you'd think he would have been told to get in the gym and work on it and he doesn't seem the type to refuse to do that.

Goals is where he does need to improve but I think he has improved his shooting - he's forced a couple of great saves from keepers this season - so I expect there are more goals to come. I can see him getting 5 or more this season, which is decent.

Pretty much agree with the rest of what you'd said. He's currently a decent Premier League player and there are signs he might improve but no guarantees it'll happen.

 

Think he's scored a couple of pens now but I can't remember the games.

 

It staggers me how little patients is afforded to young football players.
Today Andy Murray has just become world number one at 29. Playing in an era containing three of the greatest players of all time and he has done it through years of hard work to go from a talented player to now being one of the most physical players on the circuit.
James has been playing in the premier league since he was 17 with no extraordinary physical benefits(boy in mans body like a Rooney or quick like Theo).
He has been making gradual progress whilst playing at the highest level and mostly as a squad player in a position which requires discipline and stamina.

Of course he has elements of his game which he needs to improve, but to suggest he has stagnated as a footballer are ill informed

 

Ah he scored one against West Brom, too.

 

All of which goes to show that the source is all important. Haven't you noticed that this is the thinking fans' forum? And the views of the Chapel? Did you check for a pulse?

He's not the greatest player to pull on a Saints shirt. But he puts in a shift, is a pretty tough young bugger (I remember seeing Leighton Baines whack him twice in the space of 5 minutes at Goodison and the lad walked away with both legs) and he is one of ours. If he was on Strictly he'd score lots of 7s and 8s. He'll do,

 

Schnidders wasn't flashy either. I know you didn't make the comparison, but it's not a bad one. If JWP can continue to improve the way Morgan did then the sky is the limit.

 

Unless he signs for Man Utd. In which case, the bench and regular underachievement is the limit

 

Schneidrlin at that age was a faster, stronger, much better tackling version of JWP.

I don't think Schneiderlin ever became the passer/playmaker he could have been because he developed the defensive parts of his game instead.

JWP will develop along a different path, and can become a better attacking player than Schneiderlin. But I find it hard to believe he will be like, overall "better." Different, but ultimately not as good.

But I happen to believe Schneiderlin is pretty special, so there is no shame in not reaching his level. And who knows? Maybe JWP doesn't waste two prime seasons sitting on a bench somewhere and has the better career.

Still, I think if any of us could choose between 22 year old Schneiderlin or 22 year old JWP, we would all take Schneiderlin.

 

I don't think he deserves a thread. 2 of the above posts summarise JWP, chose your views.

 

Yeah. He's nearly passed it too hasn't he. He must be what, all of 22 now. Over there hill. No potential now. Time to get rid.

 

I'm not disagreeing with your point, however it carries little credibility for me Tom as you've spent 3 seasons telling us Davis isn't any good. Now at last for you, he hasn't been the heart beat of the team, so you can fill your boots.

 

Bingo

 

Jwp is improving and giving it his best.if the manager keeps picking him to play then thats good enough for me

 

Exactly. There's no doubt he's steadily improving, and he's only 22, so if he continues to do so, we have a cracking little player there.