James Ward-Prowse

[Chez]

On 09/05/2023 at 00:09, qwertyell said:

 

Prowse's skillset from open play is ten-a-penny. We'll miss his set pieces, but there's nothing remotely remarkable about the rest of his game that couldn't be found in a hundred midfielders around Europe.

Maybe, but we found Diallo, and his all round game is worse, not better.

Jwp isn't world class. He's not even good enough to get in the England side, but I'm not sure we'll be watching a central midfielder as good as him in our midfield next season.

[Osvaldorama]

14 hours ago, SotonianWill said:

So sad when he leaves, who else will pass the ball 5 yards sideways and backwards? If you can’t see lavia is our best player then I don’t know whether football is for you. People on twitter will probably bring up the running stats then claim he’s amazing. free kicks i’ll miss, cowardly leadership and lack of presence on the pitch this season (other than under jones) not so much. 

Lavia definitely has a higher ceiling and is also fantastic. But the stats don’t lie. 
 

Assists, goals, distance covered, tackles, interceptions.. JWP is better on all of them.

On top of that he loves the club and is a leader to the squad.  He will be a huge miss. 

You’re insulting the wrong person. There are many reasons we are shite, but JWP isn’t one. He is a top PL player. 

[Sussex_saint]

Completely agree with the post above this - there are many more things and individuals to blame than jwp. To address the people complaining about teens "worshiping" Prowsey - for a lot of people my age, he is our Southampton hero. He is the longest serving player right now, so it's only natural that people who watch saints feel an affinity for him. It's the same as people of an older generation having Le Tis as their childhood hero. 

 

I'm not saying he's a flawless captain, of course he does have to take some responsibility. However, we don't know what he's like off the pitch - on the pitch is only half of the responsibilities of a captain.

Edited 10 May, 2023 by Sussex_saint

[SotonianWill]

11 minutes ago, Sussex_saint said:

Completely agree with the post above this - there are many more things and individuals to blame than jwp. To address the people complaining about teens "worshiping" Prowsey - for a lot of people my age, he is our Southampton hero. He is the longest serving player right now, so it's only natural that people who watch saints feel an affinity for him. It's the same as people of an older generation having Le Tis as their childhood hero. 

I can understand what you’re saying to an extent, but lots of them aren’t even teens they’re grown men 😂

[Ted Bates Statue]

Vibes of "We should sell him to Watford for a tenner" circa 2018 in this thread. Also, the same shit was said about Hojbjerg and he's been playing for a big 6 side ever since he left. 

No, we're not going to get an improvement on JWP in a lower division.

[Saint86]

3 hours ago, Ted Bates Statue said:

Vibes of "We should sell him to Watford for a tenner" circa 2018 in this thread. Also, the same shit was said about Hojbjerg and he's been playing for a big 6 side ever since he left. 

No, we're not going to get an improvement on JWP in a lower division.

Its obvious that jwp is class for us. I swear, the guy gets lynched for not being the perfect all in one midfielder by some... He isn't part kante, part kdb, and running the midfield of every Premier league game singlehandedly - and therefore he's seemingly utter shit... 🤔).

Meanwhile he's been in demand by numerous Premier league clubs and consistently played by all our Premier league mananger from being a kid under adkins / poch / koeman, to being the main man under Ralph... Its not by fluke that be is our record Premier league appearance holder and still only 28. Let alone the fact he basically hasn't missed a minute in 4 seasons... 

I personally hope jwp stays to lead us back up - doubt it will happen obviously - but it would send a very important signal and he remains easily one of our best players. 

Edited 10 May, 2023 by Saint86

[bpsaint]

9 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Meanwhile he's been in demand by numerous Premier league clubs

[LeBizzier69]

I'm gutted about relegation, but i'm finding the thing that's bothering me most is (probably) not seeing Lavia and JWP play in a saints shirt again.

[sfc4prem]

Remember when he used to pop into my mate's cafe in Chichester. Top lad.

Always a crying shame to see academy grads leaving. All the more gut wrenching that he could well have stayed with us for his entire career if we didn't get relegated.

[egg]

19 hours ago, Saint86 said:

Its obvious that jwp is class for us. I swear, the guy gets lynched for not being the perfect all in one midfielder by some... He isn't part kante, part kdb, and running the midfield of every Premier league game singlehandedly - and therefore he's seemingly utter shit... 🤔).

Meanwhile he's been in demand by numerous Premier league clubs and consistently played by all our Premier league mananger from being a kid under adkins / poch / koeman, to being the main man under Ralph... Its not by fluke that be is our record Premier league appearance holder and still only 28. Let alone the fact he basically hasn't missed a minute in 4 seasons... 

I personally hope jwp stays to lead us back up - doubt it will happen obviously - but it would send a very important signal and he remains easily one of our best players. 

I don't think anyone has said that he's shit. The truth is that he is a great free kick taker (not a great dead ball man - many of his corners are dreadful, our last one on Monday for example). He is also hard working, committed and super fit. However, he doesn't make breaks between the lines, his tackling ain't great, he's slow, he doesn't make many incisive passes, and he's slower to use the ball than a top level midfielder should be. That's not me saying he's shit, far from it, just highlighting the faults as I see them and why I think he's still at Saints and constantly overlooked for England. He's replaceable is the championship. 

We've had good service from him, but I don't believe premier league clubs have been chasing him. I've heard that he was told a while ago that he could move on, but in reality I'm not sure where he'd go and be a regular starter. West Ham perhaps when Rice goes, Newcastle perhaps, but I can't see where else he'd be needed as a starter. I think we'll cash in if we can, but I can't see a long line of buyers and/or a massive fee. 

[Saint Garrett]

On 11/05/2023 at 10:42, sfc4prem said:

Remember when he used to pop into my mate's cafe in Chichester. Top lad.

Always a crying shame to see academy grads leaving. All the more gut wrenching that he could well have stayed with us for his entire career if we didn't get relegated.

He pops in regularly to my mates cafe, with his family. They say he is one of the nicest blokes you'll meet.  He had a load of issues with his diet at the start of this season, but played through it. Can't remember exactly what it was but something like he was having reactions to gluten or something along those lines.

He was going to open a cafe alongside Oriel Romeu last year in Winchester somewhere, but that was put to bed when Oriel left.  They were really close on and off the pitch, and there is no doubt he's missed him this season. 

He's also best mates with Fraser, and was pretty pissed at the club when they let him go last year.

[Mallagroth]

4 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

He pops in regularly to my mates cafe, with his family. They say he is one of the nicest blokes you'll meet.  He had a load of issues with his diet at the start of this season, but played through it. Can't remember exactly what it was but something like he was having reactions to gluten or something along those lines.

He was going to open a cafe alongside Oriel Romeu last year in Winchester somewhere, but that was put to bed when Oriel left.  They were really close on and off the pitch, and there is no doubt he's missed him this season. 

He's also best mates with Fraser, and was pretty pissed at the club when they let him go last year.

I think the last line is why JWP is most likely to turn up in a spurs shirt, if he is given the choice of club.

[JWade]

I think absolute best case scenario would be loaning him out to a Premier League club on the agreement that he sticks with us if we got promoted next season. But that's likely just wishful thinking. 

There will be plenty of Premier League clubs after his signature so I have no doubt he'll be gone soon! 

[Jeremy Corbyn]

1 minute ago, JWade said:

I think absolute best case scenario would be loaning him out to a Premier League club on the agreement that he sticks with us if we got promoted next season. But that's likely just wishful thinking. 

There will be plenty of Premier League clubs after his signature so I have no doubt he'll be gone soon! 

If he's going to leave Southampton at all, I assume it's because we wants to win something/get more England caps - neither of those things leng themselves to him coming back at any point.

[JWade]

1 minute ago, Jeremy Corbyn said:

If he's going to leave Southampton at all, I assume it's because we wants to win something/get more England caps - neither of those things leng themselves to him coming back at any point.

I know, like I said, that's in my opinion a best case scenario and it's wishful thinking. I've got no doubt in my mind he'll be gone for good. 

[Sussex_saint]

I can't see him being loaned away  - I think he's in or out.

[Wade Garrett]

I wouldn’t be surprised if he gave us another season if the club can sell him a worthwhile promotion push effort.

If we have another Johnny Cleverbollocks as manager, he will be gone.

[Toussaint]

4 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

I wouldn’t be surprised if he gave us another season if the club can sell him a worthwhile promotion push effort.

If we have another Johnny Cleverbollocks as manager, he will be gone.

What about his England aspirations?

[AlexLaw76]

8 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

I wouldn’t be surprised if he gave us another season if the club can sell him a worthwhile promotion push effort.

If we have another Johnny Cleverbollocks as manager, he will be gone.

what sort of pay cut do you think he will be happy with?

[Yorkshire Saint]

Going to Wet Spam if Spuds don't take 1st refusal. Brighton curious. 

Edited 12 May, 2023 by Yorkshire Saint

[Chez]

27 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

I wouldn’t be surprised if he gave us another season if the club can sell him a worthwhile promotion push effort.

If we have another Johnny Cleverbollocks as manager, he will be gone.

Unless his wages are cut in half on relegation, I should imagine we will be keen to get him off our wage bill.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

48 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

I wouldn’t be surprised if he gave us another season if the club can sell him a worthwhile promotion push effort.

If we have another Johnny Cleverbollocks as manager, he will be gone.

Meanwhile, in Rasmus' zoom meeting...

"So, Mr Cleverbollocks, or may I call you Johnny? Thank you. So, Johnny, we're keen to have someone committed to front footedness, aggression and MS excel.

While, I have to say that you being fictional is just the sort of tough life barrier I like to see, it's important that you, like all our previous clever appointments, can work with our top defensive coach, Mr Selles.

Excuse me one moment, I have to wave off half our squad from my tower of self delusion window.. bye JWP..." 🙂

[Hodgey]

Some people see things differently I suppose - but stats wise (from the athletic)

Ward-Prowse is as close to a one-player team as you can get. He is Southampton’s can-do man, invariably topping most statistics across attacking and defending. He has played the most minutes (3,105), scored the most goals (eight), registered the highest xGA (6.0), completed the most passes (1606) and crosses (235), recorded the most shot-creating (120) and goal-creating actions (eight) and made the most tackles (58), ball recoveries (209) and interceptions (49).

Really not sure what people expect of a midfielder in our team !!

[Weston Super Saint]

5 minutes ago, Hodgey said:

Some people see things differently I suppose - but stats wise (from the athletic)

Ward-Prowse is as close to a one-player team as you can get. He is Southampton’s can-do man, invariably topping most statistics across attacking and defending. He has played the most minutes (3,105), scored the most goals (eight), registered the highest xGA (6.0), completed the most passes (1606) and crosses (235), recorded the most shot-creating (120) and goal-creating actions (eight) and made the most tackles (58), ball recoveries (209) and interceptions (49).

Really not sure what people expect of a midfielder in our team !!

1303 of those passes were straight across the field.

Is 58 tackles really the most?  That's an average of 1.7 tackles per game, or one tackle every 53 minutes he's played.  Surely someone is making more than 1.7 tackles on average per game, if not, our defence really is terrible.

[Turkish]

Our spokesman on Twitter has voiced his unpopular opinion on a Friday afternoon too, so out there

 

[Hodgey]

39 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said:

1303 of those passes were straight across the field.

Is 58 tackles really the most?  That's an average of 1.7 tackles per game, or one tackle every 53 minutes he's played.  Surely someone is making more than 1.7 tackles on average per game, if not, our defence really is terrible.

I mean these are not stats I’ve made up - they are from The Athletic, I guess they could have made them up, but they seem about right to me.

fair point if he’s played more games, but then the fact he can play 90m every game is surely an advantage. 

some people see him as a free kick luxury player, I see him as much more than that ,from what I see as well as stats.

that said this hasn’t been his best season, but he’s still clearly been one of our better players. Heaven help his replacement with some of the critics on here…let’s hope he is the top goalscorer two years running and makes more tackles/interceptions/chances etc

[Chez]

1 hour ago, Weston Super Saint said:

1303 of those passes were straight across the field.

Is 58 tackles really the most?  That's an average of 1.7 tackles per game, or one tackle every 53 minutes he's played.  Surely someone is making more than 1.7 tackles on average per game, if not, our defence really is terrible.

our defence really is terrible. However, perhaps there just aren't as many tackles in top flight games as you might imagine. Interceptions and misplaced passes will outnumber tackles.

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

He is one of the players I would want to have a pint with. Intelligent and articulate he would always have something sensible to say behind the scenes; people would look up to him around the club. I doubt he spends much time in the hair salon, and he doesn't weighs himself down with gold jewelry or hang out in the VIP lounge of night clubs or on twitter. He could have left us but opted to be loyal. He is our top scorer as a midfield player. He sets the standards around the club. The fight back starts with players like him (if  he can be persuaded to stay). He will be an enormous pull for any manager of any caliber who wants to join us if he is still with us.

 

 

[Appy]

2 hours ago, Turkish said:

Our spokesman on Twitter has voiced his unpopular opinion on a Friday afternoon too, so out there

 

He’s so edgy, needs his own talksport show. 
 

Or just let Saints Voice be him. 

[madge]

Think he’ll be heading to Newcastle, well that’s what I believe. As much as though I’d love to keep him, he’d still have aspirations. I don’t get all the criticism. Been a great player in our recent history with some amazing goals. 

[harvey]

On 22/04/2023 at 01:29, Master Bates said:

I only hit like because my OCD interfered and wanted to see all 4 emojis. I personally think you're nuts.

Personally, I don't care if you think I'm nuts.....I really do think that JWP is massively overrated on here......throw all the stats you like, passes etc, but most are sideways and backwards and very few forwards. He's slow, weak in tackling and no way a captain.

I appreciate his free kicks in general are exceptional, but corners are mediocre.

I just don't get the JWP 'love in'....he's good in parts, but not good enough.

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

14 minutes ago, harvey said:

Personally, I don't care if you think I'm nuts.....I really do think that JWP is massively overrated on here......throw all the stats you like, passes etc, but most are sideways and backwards and very few forwards. He's slow, weak in tackling and no way a captain.

I appreciate his free kicks in general are exceptional, but corners are mediocre.

I just don't get the JWP 'love in'....he's good in parts, but not good enough.

But what about all of the other attributes he brings to the party. We are at best a mid table premier league team, we don't have world class players they just leave. He is as good a player that we can have who is prepared to stay.

[suewhistle]

Exactly! Lavia may have more potential, particularly physical and pace, but not much good if he isn't here.

JWP is far too intelligent not to know his own limitations, but he still surprises me by turning up in support of his team mates in all areas of the pitch. If we had more players with his work ethic we wouldn't be in the sh*t we are now.

[harvey]

2 minutes ago, Sergei Gotsmanov said:

But what about all of the other attributes he brings to the party. We are at best a mid table premier league team, we don't have world class players they just leave. He is as good a player that we can have who is prepared to stay.

Sorry, I don't see any other attributes, and apart from the free kicks....he's hard working but in no way inspirational.

[FarehamSaintJames]

5 hours ago, Turkish said:

Our spokesman on Twitter has voiced his unpopular opinion on a Friday afternoon too, so out there

 

What a bellend. No other way to describe him. Why do prats like this exist in our fanbase. 😂

He had over 20,000 or so tweets, so either he started again or he’s had a serious flush out of his past tweets - which I doubt he’s smart enough to do. 😂

Literally joked yesterday about the old “unpopular opinion” quote. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Edited 13 May, 2023 by FarehamSaintJames

[Ed Rooney]

10 hours ago, Toussaint said:

What about his England aspirations?

😂😂

[Ed Rooney]

2 hours ago, suewhistle said:

Exactly! Lavia may have more potential, particularly physical and pace, but not much good if he isn't here.

JWP is far too intelligent not to know his own limitations, but he still surprises me by turning up in support of his team mates in all areas of the pitch. If we had more players with his work ethic we wouldn't be in the sh*t we are now.

Lavia is a far better midfielder than him now, not potentially, but as you say he will not be here which is the biggest loss for us. Yes JWP works hard, but his limitations as a central midfielder have had a big impact in the football served up and why we are where we are. Unfortunately a lot of fans have the “came up through the academy” blinkers on and will not have a bad word said about him. 

[suewhistle]

I haven't got enough posts left to engage in a debate - got to keep one for the post match celebrations... - but if you think we are going to have anybody as good in our midfield next season I think you need to reconsider. Either way it will be interesting to see how he does in a stronger team and the best thing is he won't get the opportunity to score against us!

[Nemi]

15 hours ago, Hodgey said:

Some people see things differently I suppose - but stats wise (from the athletic)

Ward-Prowse is as close to a one-player team as you can get. He is Southampton’s can-do man, invariably topping most statistics across attacking and defending. He has played the most minutes (3,105), scored the most goals (eight), registered the highest xGA (6.0), completed the most passes (1606) and crosses (235), recorded the most shot-creating (120) and goal-creating actions (eight) and made the most tackles (58), ball recoveries (209) and interceptions (49).

Really not sure what people expect of a midfielder in our team !!

Thing is stats never tell the full story.

He takes all the free-kicks, corners and penalties. That immediately inflates his stats. He also by far plays the most. I'm not saying these are bad things, but it hides his open-play deficiencies. 

Stats can't measure his positioning - my biggest complaint of him (how many of his passes come from the times he drops into the backline and we spend the next five minutes passing it across the sideways not going anywhere?). Stats don't measure composure on the ball - he panics under pressure and that reflects across our whole team in the number of points we've chucked away from winning positions. Stats don't measure how quickly he moves the ball - we all know how slow our build-up play is. Stats don't measure how a midfielder dictates the play - can you name me the last time we've truly controlled the game, even against the lower league teams (and I'm not talking about loads of possession but not going anywhere).

Personally, I don't care how many goals our midfielder gets, I just want someone who can control the game, manage the tempo,  play the ball quickly with one touch when needed, and for me JWP doesn't do that. It's definitely nowhere near all his fault, and with better players I'm sure he'd also be better. But the best midfielders raise the level of the whole team: on the rare occasion JWP hasn't played it really hasn't made much difference (though I know its a choice between terrible or awful). And there is a reason why no other teams (apart from Villa when they were chucking silly money at anyone) have really made a big push for to get him. He'll be a decent squad player for someone I'm sure - but given the importance of having a midfielder who can break the lines in today's game, I can't see him displacing many of the current PL starters.

[Saint Gifford]

He is in my opinion, a great player in our team.

Could he play for either Manchester clubs, in the London so called three, or at the top table in Spain or Italy.

I very much doubt it.

We are Southampton and as much as I love the club, we would not and would never attract a world class player in their prime.

Would I like us to sell our soul to Middle East or American Sports washing, I don’t know. That’s a completely different debate. 
 

Im sure we will miss him, but we are about his level. That’s the bottom line. 

[Saint Garrett]

I think he deserves a bit more respect from our fan base than what’s on here, personally. 

Yes he has his downfalls, yes he isn’t KDB, but he’s still a top player for us and has been for years. Is he good enough to go and play for one of the top 6? I think it’s unlikely, but he’s a top 10 player no doubt about that. He’s also given his all for this club, which so many players have failed to do, especially this season! 

[FarehamSaintJames]

He deserves way more respect. He’s got a bit of a barrage recently from parts of the fanbase.

I still think he’ll stay, but ultimately wouldn’t blame him if he left.

[ErwinK1961]

He’s been a top servant for us and the loyalty isn’t to be sniffed at, will be a loss.

But it’s also ok to think he’s a middle of the road player and the fact he’s captain and an integral part of our team, is an indictment of how far we have fallen since 2016. 

We will miss Lavia more in my opinion (will miss both obviously).

Edited 13 May, 2023 by ErwinK1961

[Wade Garrett]

He's a very good footballer that is being criminally used as a defensive midfielder.

So much better when he's more advanced.

I think he'll stay, and hope he does.

[Fabrice29]

7 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

He's a very good footballer that is being criminally used as a defensive midfielder.

So much better when he's more advanced.

I think he'll stay, and hope he does.

You will be sorely dissappointed.

Anyway, his comments after the game today are laughable from a captain. "The way we’ve done it this year, that’s the disappointing thing. We didn’t really go down with a fight and given everything we can. That’s the disappointing thing.” 

Media trained cliché comments are not ideal from a captain and this doesn't smack of someone who was ever going to sort out the issues inside the dressing room. 

[harvey]

20 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

You will be sorely dissappointed.

Anyway, his comments after the game today are laughable from a captain. "The way we’ve done it this year, that’s the disappointing thing. We didn’t really go down with a fight and given everything we can. That’s the disappointing thing.” 

Media trained cliché comments are not ideal from a captain and this doesn't smack of someone who was ever going to sort out the issues inside the dressing room. 

And that's coming from the 'captain!'......Jesus H Christ 🙄

[angelman]

He was absolutely pathetic today. No fight in him what so ever. If I was a prospective club looking at him, I'd maybe thing twice after today's abject performance by him. 

[aintforever]

28 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

You will be sorely dissappointed.

Anyway, his comments after the game today are laughable from a captain. "The way we’ve done it this year, that’s the disappointing thing. We didn’t really go down with a fight and given everything we can. That’s the disappointing thing.” 

Media trained cliché comments are not ideal from a captain and this doesn't smack of someone who was ever going to sort out the issues inside the dressing room. 

This, his performance in the interview was as lame as his performance on the pitch. I was hoping for once he would show a bit of anger and have the balls to call out a few people but he just delivered the usual rehearsed comments. 
 

He’s been a good player for us but he’s not a leader, needs to go in the summer.

[Fabrice29]

11 minutes ago, angelman said:

He was absolutely pathetic today. No fight in him what so ever. If I was a prospective club looking at him, I'd maybe thing twice after today's abject performance by him. 

In fairness to him I think he's fed up with the whole thing, which I get from his point of view because he's one of the few that has performed this season, he's lost close friends and allies he could rely on in the dressing room and like the rest of us he's probably resigned to relegation. However, when you remember he's the captain, I just find his comments lame and a very good summary as to why we are so soft. Just smacks of a man who either A) hasn't called out his thoughts to others in the dressing room personally or B) has done that but hasn't been able to get through to people because he's not a leader of that nature.

There was a moment in the game today he got smacked in the face with an elbow, and he sprinted over to the guy who did it and looked like he was going to take him out but he controlled himself at the last moment and just trotted back into shape. I know it's too late James, and I also know it's hardly the greatest quality in the world but that's the first time I've seen him riled up for quite a while. I'd love to have seen him smash into someone a few weeks or months ago and turn to the crowd and rile people up. Feels like those days of him winding up Zaha are way behind him, which is concerning when he's the captain and he's the one who clearly thinks we haven't shown enough of those exact qualities.

Edited 13 May, 2023 by Fabrice29

[harvey]

3 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

In fairness to him I think he's fed up with the whole thing, which I get from his point of view because he's one of the few that has performed this season, he's lost close friends and allies he could rely on in the dressing room and like the rest of us he's probably resigned to relegation. However, when you remember he's the captain, I just find his comments lame and a very good summary as to why we are so soft. Just smacks of a man who either A) hasn't called out his thoughts to others in the dressing room personally or B) has done that but hasn't been able to get through to people because he's not a leader of that nature.

That's a fair statement and probably not too far from the truth.