17 year old James Ward-Prowse is the next talented youngster to roll off of the Southampton conveyor bell, following Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, to name but a few. The technically gifted central midfielder was introduced to the 1st team last season where he was given a few run outs in the FA and League cup and even managed to score his first Southampton goal. It is widely anticipated that he will play a big part in the Saintâs future. However, few would have foreseen him starting their first league match of the season against Manchester City. Despite this, he delivered an accomplished performance against the likes of Yaya Toure and David Silva in the heart of midfield. Sundayâs fixture against league runners up Manchester United saw manager Nigel Adkins hand Ward-Prowse his second start of the season and once again he performed admirably, cementing his place as a first team performer at Southampton. Ward-Prowse lined up alongside Morgan Schneiderlin and Steven Davis in a compact midfield trio. From the off it was clear to see that even off the ball Ward-Prowse is an exceptionally intelligent footballer and despite the fact that the opening minutes were dominated by the visitors he used this intelligence to help pressurise the United midfield. He was not overly aggressive in his pressing so as to ensure that neither he nor his side were exposed by a misjudged tackle or interception early on in the game. The midfielder reads the game well but it was his awareness that really caught the eye and this was evident when Southampton were in possession as he looked to drop into pockets of space across the midfield; frequently evading the attention of Cleverly and Carrick. As Southampton grew in confidence and began to build attacks of their own he would use his awareness to wisely position himself 10-15 yards inside of the United half and offer to receive the ball if the forwards were marked. This allowed the team to keep momentum building during spells of good pressure by making sure that they did not have to play the ball all the way back to the centre backs or Kelvin Davis. He did something very similar whilst Southampton were defending United attacks; he is not the most physically imposing player and so was not in the area constantly heading away crosses. Instead he was positioned just outside of the box and looked to pick up loose balls and help build a counter attack; his notable anticipation of danger often meant that he was in the right place to help win the second ball and move the ball to the forwards. On the ball Ward-Prowse is extremely gifted; his passing was positive and if he had the chance, would look to play the ball forwards but would take the safe option if the situation warranted it. He possess a good range of passing and this was shown vs United as he spread the play from right to left on numerous occasions whilst also dissecting the United midfield with short passes into feet. Against an experienced United side he managed 85% pass completion, including 2 âkeyâ passes. For a team that has adopted a short passing game it is important to play the ball quickly and Ward-Prowse was testament to this as his awareness on the pitch meant that he only needed a few touches before crisply releasing the ball to a teammate. The 17 year old showed flashes of what he may offer in the final 3rd in the years to come as his swift passing directly followed by clever movement allowed him to get two shots off; one of which went narrowly wide. In Ward-Prowse Southampton have a player who puts the team before himself and this is especially important in the Premiership. He covered for Schneiderlin and right back Nathaniel Clyne on their forays forward so as to ensure that the team were not at risk from counter attacks; this unselfishness will serve him and his team well in the future. His game is not without fault as on occasion he was all too happy to shadow an opposition player when instead he could have made attempted to make a challenge, however, this caution is nothing out of the ordinary for such a young player appearing on such a big stage. As already mentioned he is not the most imposing player and this led to him being outmuscled on a few occasions, although, this should change as he matures physically. His influence on the game waned alongside of the rest of the midfield when United made their substitutions. Pass master Scholes came on with devastating affect whilst Van Persie dropped deeper and Carrick pushed up as United searched for an equaliser and an eventual winner. This coupled along with the fact that the Southampton defence were no longer passing the ball out from the back meant that all three midfielders were seeing a lot less of the ball. In the end this proved fatal as United snatched the win. Despite the loss, Ward-Prowse can be extremely proud of his performance. Judging by his display it looks as if Southampton have a player of extreme potential on their hands. His movement, anticipation and appreciation of space off the ball coupled with his passing and exceptional technique whilst on it should see him go far.
He's not 6 foot, the OS lists him as 5'8". And Morgan is 5 years older than JWP which might have something to do with it!
JWP is a cracking young player with the potential and technical ability to go all the way. One weakness at the present time though is that he still needs to work on his stamina at this level of football and it's demands. Do not worry, this will come over the next year or two as he gets older and stronger. e.g. Look at Schneiderlin now compared with before we went down! Think until that happens we may see Cork come on as sub for JWP at 60-70 mins quite frequently if all 4 CM's are fit, where there is less worry over Schneiderlin & S. Davis seeing out the full 90. This is not a criticism of JWP, just an observation. At the moment our (few) problems seem to be largely in the area of the tiredness of the players in the last 15-20 minutes, and can also be attributed to the fact we've ran the furthest of any team in BPL so far. This can be avoided be being wiser in possession and increasing the %age we have of the ball, but at the same time there's obviously some players in our current squad that will be far less likely to be able to pick up this stamina at a later age in life (Hooiveld, Fonte, Lambert) than the younger guys such as JWP. Lat
´ As I wrote, when Morgan first came here he was fairly skinny so he was about 18 at the time. JWP looks taller than 5 foot 8
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2197890/Premier-League-season-far.html May I point you towards distance covered in a full game statistic? His stamina is fine, he played 90 minutes against United and about 60 against City (can't remember exactly) on a very big pitch against the best team in the division with the 3rd highest average speed of any player in any match so far this season in the PL. I think you're being VERY picky.
Cheers for the article, makes very interesting reading. We'll have to agree to disagree though I think. My point was that his stamina will improve in a couple of years from where it is now, which is a good thing, and will make him an EVEN BETTER player. Using your article as evidence..... JWP covered 5.547 miles in 65 mins against Man City before being subbed (at the 3rd highest average speed of 5.12mph). This does not prove his stamina. Why, you may ask? It's because if he could continue at that rate for the remainder of the match (lets assume 4 mins injury time) he would have covered 8.02 miles eclipsing Morgan's record for the year so far by 0.71 miles or an extra 10% on the current best. Why is this relevant? Because it shows that he used far to much of his potential energy early in the game. This is fine if you plan to sub him and share the effort with a second player for the remaining minutes, but if you plan JWP to play the whole 90 he would be flat out long before the end. So, moving onto the Man Utd game.... If we assume that JWP covered the same amount of distance in the first 65 minutes as he did against Man City (which I can believe) then he only averaged 2.92mph during the final 29 minutes. The Maths: 65 mins x 5.12mph = 5.547 miles 6.96 miles - 5.547 miles = 1.413 miles 1.413 miles/29 minutes = 2.924 mph So, the long and the short (in my humble opinion), is he needs to learn to conserve some of his energy better if he plans to be a useful player for the full 90 minutes. It was tiredness (his and others) that caused us to struggle the final 15-20 minutes against Utd, and that was because we'd covered too many miles too early in the game. Lat
City and United are both very good sides who forced him into chasing the ball. As he learns and the team learns to retain the ball better, they won't have as much running to do. For a kid of his age and size, his natural fitness is incredible. I'm just glad we have Cork back soon so we can use the kid without running him into the ground and risking a nasty injury.
He has been extremely impressive, to be sure. I was a 'doubter' coming into the year...thought that he could be a very tidy player, but that it would take time. From the two Manchester games, I'm now pretty convinced that he can be a top-level complete CM; his positioning and awareness are superb, and he understands his limitations. With time he'll probably play a more incisive passing game, which is quite an exciting possibility; he already has quite a gift for moving into the space between the opposition's defense and midfield, and once he becomes comfortable enough with his role (and his teammates become more comfortable with him), he could be the bridge between attack and midfield through the middle of the pitch that we at times have missed.
The article shows how fit and energetic the Southampton team is, also good that Lallana is hitting shots. If the midfield are working so hard then that is why we have subs, against Man U we had the 3 in the middle, but one will drop out out to make room for Lallana to play in the middle
Nice to see another Pompey lad doing well. This is by no means a pop at you but he'll be off when a big club come in for him. Although you'll get a decent fee for the lad so all will be good. The way he plays and how he is described reminds me of our own now ex Marc Wilson. Very composed, cracking eye for a pass and is very deceptive when it comes to skill. Hope the lad has a good career.
I can't see him wanting off when he is getting first team, Premiership pitch time! Why would he want to move to another side to warm the bench. The only reason which I can see he might be tempted to do that would be for the money. If he get better and better, then it will be a question of who improves most, Saints or him. I hope that both keep pushing each other.
