James Ward-Prowse

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Joe said:
Wouldn't mind the next Beckham.
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David Beckham was the very, very best mediocre player who has ever represented England, in my opinion. He wasn't particularly skilful, he wasn't quick, he wasn't particularly fast in his head, and despite that goal, that made his name, his vision wasn't brilliant either. What he could do was pass well and cross extremely well on one foot. He was also a great worker on the right of midfield and a good leader too. He was extremely good at self promotion, in the right way, and it didn't half help that he played for the best club in England as well, while he was making his name. And people liked him. All praise to him for making the most of his talents.
 
TheSecondStain said:
David Beckham was the very, very best mediocre player who has ever represented England, in my opinion. He wasn't particularly skilful, he wasn't quick, he wasn't particularly fast in his head, and despite that goal, that made his name, his vision wasn't brilliant either. What he could do was pass well and cross extremely well on one foot. He was also a great worker on the right of midfield and a good leader too. He was extremely good at self promotion, in the right way, and it didn't half help that he played for the best club in England as well, while he was making his name. And people liked him. All praise to him for making the most of his talents.
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Still the only English player to win league titles in 4 different countries, so must have been OK
 
TheSecondStain said:
David Beckham was the very, very best mediocre player who has ever represented England, in my opinion. He wasn't particularly skilful, he wasn't quick, he wasn't particularly fast in his head, and despite that goal, that made his name, his vision wasn't brilliant either. What he could do was pass well and cross extremely well on one foot. He was also a great worker on the right of midfield and a good leader too. He was extremely good at self promotion, in the right way, and it didn't half help that he played for the best club in England as well, while he was making his name. And people liked him. All praise to him for making the most of his talents.
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Calling him mediocre does him a massive disservice
 
Beckham might not have been quick, but his passing ability was second to none. I don't think I've ever seen a player with better accuracy, and I include Le Tiss in that.

Also let's not forget his scoring record was very good for his position.
 
benditlikeabanana said:
Still the only English player to win league titles in 4 different countries, so must have been OK
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He also got voted Fifa World Player of the year runner up twice (second to Rivaldo in 1999 and second to Figo in 2001). Beckham was a great player.
 
Joe said:
Beckham might not have been quick, but his passing ability was second to none. I don't think I've ever seen a player with better accuracy, and I include Le Tiss in that.
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I agree, I think his passing was excellent. Whether it was actually better than Matty's I'd question. What Beckham was supremely good at was being the player that England needed at the time. If you remember, every other good international team seemed to have a stockroom full of inspirational players and highly technically skilled too. Well England didn't have any of those or chose not to select them, apart from Paul Gascoigne and he was mercurial and unstable. So we had hard working players instead, and David Beckham was chief amongst them. I'm not knocking him in the slightest. I'm just seeing him for what he actually was. A reasonable player who made the most of himself and who incidentally, could put bums on seats and bring attention to his new club, whoever they were. I don't see it as a criticism.
 
I Sorry I Ruined The Party said:
What is it you want from a wide midfielder winger-- good crosses? JWP leads the Premier league.
What is it you want from an attacking mid-- key passes? JWP leads the team and is also pretty high up in the Premier League.

Can't see how he's been a problem with the offense or what he has been doing wrong. Whatever it is you want in a midfielder (other than maybe defense) he's done it. He doesn't have to play clever throughballs or dribble through people if what he is doing is working. And it is working. Very well. If I were JWP, I would continue to play exactly the way he is playing right now until the opposition forces him to change.

It just seems like a silly way to nit-pick. People say that JWP should be playing based on potential and the argument is that we should play who is more effective right now. Well JWP is the most effective right now, so that settles that. Except then the argument is that he'll lose his spot because Ramirez/Lallana/Rodriguez have more potential in that position. Totally circular argument.

JWP has been one of the best we have RIGHT NOW. He also has as much or more potential than just about anyone in the squad. What on Earth is the problem here?

Maybe he winds up not being good enough in the long run, or maybe not. The same thing could be said of any of the players. Let it play out, instead of looking for problems that don't exist.
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His all round game isn't as good as ramirez, lalllana, lambert osvaldo, and rodriguez. He might be a better crosser and set piece taker which is what has resulted in those great stats, bar one 1 metre sideways pass, but he isn't of the quality that the team needs to attack fluidly and effectively. He was about our best player on saturday and merits starting against norwich based on form not ability the others previously mentioned are better ability wise imo, not potential wise.

There have only been two games this year and he has played well, and as an attacking unit we have looked like scoring goals quite a few of which could have come from his crosses. However I would suggest you watch closely to see whether he brings enough to the team in terms of creating space for others either through an off the ball run or his own passing, interplay. I would suggest he is very poor at both, as a cdm this would be fine but not as a right winger where it is crucial that he can play others in and quite important that he can offer an option in behind, counterattack, generally offer another option other than crossing. Something he has done once or twice.

It is possible that we would look less one dimensional down the right hand side with clyne playing fullback, but I would prefer a proper attacking winger ahead of him like, puncheon, ramirez, rodiguez, or lallana whom would open more space for an overlap and who would also better utilise the space a dummy run provides.
 
TheSecondStain said:
Hmm. Sadly that is a symptom of the lack of progress made by England in coaching its youngest pool of talent. Never mind. The Southampton Academy of England Players will come up trumps eventually. :)
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Well, to be fair, in a few years' time we'll not only have the Saints batch, but also Nick Powell, Will Hughes, Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Ibe, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Tom Carroll, Nathaniel Chalobah, and so on and so on.

We have a very good generation of midfielders coming through. We're perhaps lacking in good young goalscorers, but the England team will be moving the ball a lot better in the near future.
 
Joe said:
Well, to be fair, in a few years' time we'll not only have the Saints batch, but also Nick Powell, Will Hughes, Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Ibe, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Tom Carroll, Nathaniel Chalobah, and so on and so on.

We have a very good generation of midfielders coming through. We're perhaps lacking in good young goalscorers, but the England team will be moving the ball a lot better in the near future.
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Yes, I can just picture them dazzling us all with their lightning passes around the box and not one of them with the instinct to toe-poke one past the keeper. <laugh>
 
Joe said:
Well, to be fair, in a few years' time we'll not only have the Saints batch, but also Nick Powell, Will Hughes, Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Ibe, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Tom Carroll, Nathaniel Chalobah, and so on and so on.

We have a very good generation of midfielders coming through. We're perhaps lacking in good young goalscorers, but the England team will be moving the ball a lot better in the near future.
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Ruben Loftus-Cheek? I really, really hope he makes it big, just for his name.
 
I really can't even begin to read someone suggesting that Beckham was mediocre. Too many people confuse his media profile with his playing ability.
 
fatletiss said:
I really can't even begin to read someone suggesting that Beckham was mediocre. Too many people confuse his media profile with his playing ability.
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And his passion. That was, along with his skill, a big part of what he brought to the England setup. Remember that Greece game?
 
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