Player Focus: James Ward-Prowse - Prodigious Youngster to Saints Starter

Southampton have made a habit of producing talented youngsters. From Matthew Le Tissier in the mid-80’s to the likes of Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the modern day, the quality has been of an exceptional level at the south coast club.

What is more, at present, Saints boast a number of players in their first-team who have emerged from their academy, most notably Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw, the former having been rewarded with an England call up. James Ward-Prowse is another that has been making a name for himself after breaking into the senior squad last season.

Having been awarded the Scholar of the Season accolade at Saints’ awards dinner in May ahead of Shaw and Dominic Gape, the 19-year-old has since been involved in all 12 Premier League games this campaign. Ward-Prowse is 1 of only 7 teenagers to have registered over 5 league appearances this term, highlighting his importance to the Saints first-team despite his age.

This is further emphasised in that the midfielder has played the full 90 minutes in each of Saints’ last 4 league games, 1 of which saw him attain the WhoScored man of the match award in the 1-1 draw with Stoke earlier this month. Assisting Jay Rodriguez for his equaliser with a through ball matches his statistically calculated strength of ‘through balls’ and perhaps highlights remarkably high confidence in a player so young.

The fact that Ward-Prowse is evidently so sure in his ability to create for his teammates is in no small part down to manager Mauricio Pochettino. The young attacker was utilised sparingly last term under Nigel Adkins, making 15 appearances but only 4 starts. However, the Argentine has clearly spotted the potential within the player and elevated his status from bit-part player to regular first-teamer at the expense of Gastón Ramírez, despite the Uruguayan costing a then-club record £12m to join from Bologna last summer.

A great deal of responsibility has been thrust upon Ward-Prowse, and with his morale high; he’s grasped the opportunity with both hands. The teenager has become Saints’ main set-piece taker, and his ability has generated a WhoScored strength of ‘taking set-pieces’, while his precision has benefitted the aerially imposing trio of Jose Fonte, Dejan Lovren and Rickie Lambert.

With this threat from dead-ball situations, Southampton have developed a WhoScored strength of ‘attacking set-pieces’ and Ward-Prowse has been central to this, an example being his assist for Fonte’s late header in the 1-1 draw with Sunderland in the second game of the season.

Ward-Prowse has also found a teammate in the box on 18 occasions this season, the most of every player in the Premier League. Pochettino’s decision to make him Saints’ primary corner taker has paid dividends given Southampton's success from set pieces this season.

The Saints startlet has executed 19 crosses from open play this term, with that figure again the most in the Premier League. In total, that has seen Ward-Prowse play 37 accurate crosses, 9 more than the next highest performer; Steven Gerrard (28).

The wideman has also attempted the most crosses this season (97), although this means his 60 inaccurate balls into the box is also the highest of every player. While this may be a large number, only 6 of the 110 players that have attempted at least 15 crosses can boast a better success rate than Ward-Prowse’s (38.1%), a mightily impressive return for a player so young.

As a result, Ward-Prowse has developed a WhoScored strength of ‘crossing’ and it’s fairly obvious that this is his primary asset when it comes to attacking the opposition, accentuated in his style of play of ‘likes to cross’.

He may be one of the youngest players in the Southampton squad, but he’s already established himself as a key member in Pochettino’s XI, reinforced in his WhoScored rating of 7.34 from the 7 league games he’s started. Dejan Lovren (7.71) and Adam Lallana (7.35) are the only two players in the Saints teams with a better rating if only starts are taken into consideration.

His delivery from out wide is the most potent weapon in his arsenal as evidenced in his crossing stats and it’s little surprise that the winger is winning plaudits following his start to the season. Should Pochettino continue to trust Ward-Prowse as he has done so far, there is no reason why the teen can’t go from strength-to-strength and build on what has been a memorable start to 2013/14.

Do you think James Ward-Prowse deserves a starting spot for Southampton? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below