I can see Liverpool bringing him in as a Henderson replacement in a couple years time when his contract is nearer its end. If it was up to me I'd be trying to mug Newcastle off this Summer. Think we could get far more than he's worth and they might just be stupid enough.
I think you’d be the ones getting mugged though because without Ward-Prowse you’re just about scraping above relegation standard. That guy gets you about 12-15 points singlehandedly via his set pieces and delivery. Type of player that no amount of money is worth selling for, likewise us with Kane.
Completely disagree mate. £70-80m spent well would hugely improve the team and there's no way he's worth that - It's an unpopular opinion but I don't think he's particularly good in open play. Anything north of 70 would be crazy money for someone's whose best attribute is never getting injured. Romeu twice the midfielder imo. His delivery from set pieces (crosses not shots) has largely been poor this season too for what it's worth. Loads of us wanted him taken off corners earlier in the season for Nathan Redmond lol.
Yeah I don’t think he’s a particularly great overall player but he’s probably the best freekick taker in the game right now. For me that sort of attribute is priceless. Fair enough on the corners, sounds like Eriksen in that regard, his corners were utter gash for someone with good freekicks and unbelievable technical ability. As an outsider I’d just consider someone like that unsellable at a club like yours. Looking from the outside-in there’s no one else who I think can get you points on their own… other than KWP of course
The ongoing issue for me is that Winks and Hojbjerg only look useful in a three-man midfield. That is an absurd condition to have to meet week in, week out. Plenty of other teams deploy a 2-pivot and it works just fine. The manager has made it pretty clear he prefers a midfield 2 and only switched to a 3 when injuries forced him to do so. And although we can criticise his insistence on it in individual games, as a bigger picture project he is 100% right. Poch in 2014/15 did exactly what Conte is doing now. He settled on the 4231 and stuck to it all season, despite not having the midfielders to do so. He rotated through Mason, Bentaleb, Capoue, Dembele, Dier and Stambouli even though none of the combinations were good enough for where he wanted us to be. He did this in order to ingrain the new system into the club's bloodstream, then went off that summer to have a think, pushed Dier up into midfield and dropped Dembele back before adding Wanyama the following year and the rest, as they say, is history. This is what Conte is doing, he just doesn't (yet) have the pivot to do it with. I have a glimmer of hope Skipp-Bentancur will be that pivot that allows us to genuinely control games, giving far more freedom to our WBs (who also need to be upgraded) and attackers. What infuriates me most about Winks and Hojbjerg is their lack of intelligence out of possession. That is where Conte's system rises and falls. The midfield needs to have impeccable reading of the game and time their decisions to perfection to cut out an opposition passage of play and quickly move the ball upfield to the wide men or the attackers. It is at its core a counter-attacking style although the counter itself is designed to start far higher up the pitch, with the midfielders instead of the defenders (which was the brain-numbing ****e we had to watch under Maureen and Nuno). Someone asked earlier how or why Chelsea were so much better when they had Kante and Matic and that's exactly the point - both extremely intelligent players who read the game superbly. Selling Matic to United when still in his prime and failing to replace him with Bakayoko was the beginning of the end for Conte there. Watching Winks and Hojbjerg when we're out of possession is the definition of watching headless chickens, scampering around the pitch with zero understanding of what they are doing or why they are doing it. This is where their game is sorely lacking and it is killing the whole system. From what we've seen of Skipp and the cameos from Bentancur, I'm optimistic they could be the way forward. Not as combative as other pivots Conte has used but you don't have to be. You just need to play with your head up.
I don’t see the fascination with Ward-Prowse. Good at free kicks but other than that he’s bang average and I can’t see a big club signing him just for free kicks.
This seems pretty accurate to me. If 434 is going to be our long term system then it is better to stick with it whatever the personnel. The issue with players not being disciplined was well illustrated by their first goal. The root cause was Davies' sliced clearance but we could have recovered. Winks and Højbjerg were the nearest players to the eventual goalscorer. Winks chose to move out to support Emerson and Højbjerg just stood on the penalty spot instead of closing Brora down. So neither stopped the goal when either could have.
everytime I watch him against us I think he’s one of your best players and the last few years he’s owned our midfield combinations on a regular basis. I was touting him many years ago a bit like I did with Mane. You talk about him like meh…he’s good but I’m happy to cash in how come? Edit: just caught up with thread would take him for his dead balls tekkers…sick of watching Kane pretend he knows what he’s doing
he used to be a watch and clock repairer but gave it up when his eyesight went and that was when he took up refereeing.
I think that Ward-Prowse is severely underrated and he'd look even better in a top side. His fitness levels are excellent for someone that's technically good, for a start. I guess I'm missing something though, as he's still at Southampton.
I know. It certainly hasn't escaped our notice on here. We're also missing a variety of other positions and any sensible tactics to deal with pressing sides.
Dim Sherwood says that Bentancur and Kulusevski changed the game, as in we were winning before they came on and lost after This is why nobody's hiring him as manager, isn't it?
One other thing that I'd add about Ward-Prowse is that he'd prevent some sides' tactics. Stick him our team and suddenly opposition players would have to think about giving away free-kicks. Foul us now or kick it behind and you'll be getting the ball back in 30 seconds.
This is why we really should consider giving Harvey White some playing time, especially as there's openings in CM
Royal was left on his own trying to mark 3 Southampton players for their 3rd goal while Winks and Kulu stood and watched on the edge of the box , that doesn't absolve him from bad press that he's getting but just pointing out others had a shocker wed night
