James Ward-Prowse

[1882andallthat]

It's not just his ability on free kicks which is head and shoulders above anyone we have on that duty, his delivery of corners is excellent too, and again far better than we've had for years. To suggest that taking these attributes aside, he's no better than Winks is well wide of the mark

 

[Timbar]

Tbh I have not watched enough of him to comment so here for a question. Where would he play in our line up and ahead of who? If we think skipp and hojberg start? Or does he get ahead of one of those?

 

[worcestersauce]

There are players who look good because they play at an average club but are out of their depth at a big club, I've never felt that about him. I've often wondered why he is still at Southampton and supposed it was his club and he didn't want to leave but if Villa are in for him and he hasn't blown out the idea then we should be right in there.
I think we treated them decent last year when we bought Hojbjerg but sold them KWP for a reasonable fee so I think we may be able to deal.
I've always thought of him as what we used to call a midfield dynamo.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I think he's a good player, but would he be first choice? Would he come here if he wasn't?

Really, we have (i) Lo Celso and PEH that I really think should be starting this year, and then you'd like to think (ii) Skipp will start to break through, and (iii) Tanguy could be a wild card...get fit, and he could be amazing...but who knows?

So this guy would either be:
- pushing one of the group (i) out of the line up - not sure he's technically good enough in general play, and their work rates are pretty good
- limiting Skipp's path to the first team
- confirming that Tanguy doesn't have much of a chance

....or I suppose, a blend of the three

But he's not a guaranteed starter I'd say, and I'm not sure he'd come in that scenario

 

[Armstrong_11]

One player, I have been hoping we were linked with ever since Poch joined.

i think we are a few seasons too late, to be honest. and he hasn't really progressed as much as I hope he did over the past few seasons.

I feel he isn't as good a creative player as Eriksen, but his setpieces are really the strong point of his game, with great free kicks, and corners. plus a long throw. Works hard at winning the ball too. not sure will he be able to get better then where he is now.

but... having someone like that on the bench could prove useful, especially late in the game, with more tired legs and more free kicks.

 

[Silky Skills]

I wouldn’t say no, who is to say Gio won’t get further injuries and Skipp doesn’t quite make the level. We also need a set piece taker

 

[roy@SC]

People who say he is only really good at set pieces...Well firstly our set pieces are currently diabolical so - surely he is already a massive upgrade, and every time we take a rubbish corner or free kick this season, ye can look back on your post here secondly he is a better player than ye think, much better. If we could offload winks and sissoko and bring him in I'd take that all day long.

 

[spids]

Since Son has been on corner duty they have been decent. I would like to see Son take a direct free kick - I cannot recall him taking one and think he'd be very good. I certainly do not want to see Kane or Dier standing over them again.

 

[JCRD]

He is a decent player and I really like him but not sure whether he would take us to where we need to be.

On a side note - what the hell is going on at Southampton? I mean selling their spine in Vestergard to LCFC, Ings to Villa and JWP to whoever - that could relegate them... not like theyre investing whatsoever.

 

[spursfan77]

People who say he is only really good at set pieces...Well firstly our set pieces are currently diabolical so - surely he is already a massive upgrade, and every time we take a rubbish corner or free kick this season, ye can look back on your post here secondly he is a better player than ye think, much better. If we could offload winks and sissoko and bring him in I'd take that all day long.

I agree. It would be good to see one of those comparison matrixs people do to show how much better he’d be that winks and sissoko actually. I’d do one myself but I have no idea how to.

 

[hughy]

Since Son has been on corner duty they have been decent. I would like to see Son take a direct free kick - I cannot recall him taking one and think he'd be very good. I certainly do not want to see Kane or Dier standing over them again.

Dier is actually pretty good with free-kicks if you take in to consideration how few he takes. He scored one for England against Russia at Euro 2016, forced Gauita in to a stunning save against Palace with a free-kick in the 1-1 draw last season, and clipped the bar with one against Arsenal at the weekend. I can't really think of any others he's taken, but I can bet there aren't many.

We do need a set-piece specialist in the squad, but for all of his faults Dier certainly isn't bad at them.

 

[CoopsieDeadpool]

He’s obviously a set piece specialist, which is much needed & automatically brings more goals to team. He’s always fit, never misses games and has great all round attributes for a CM and I feel he would fit in really well at spurs.

Ideal scenario would be a player swap plus cash, with Winks and/or Dier going to Southampton.

 

[TheHoddleWaddle]

Thing with a player like JWP, is the way he will impact how the other team defends. If you consider the likes of Son , Moura, kane they can draw fouls all around the box in free kick territory. Opposition will be much less likely to bring them down with Ward-P on the pitch. Which then means more liklihood of space to exploit here and there at the back. Moura would especially benefit as he gets hacked regularly. If they don't adapt then JWP gets free kicks in scoring zones. Not to mention the balls he can out in the box for Harry's head etc.

A good signing for me if it can happen. Certainly an excellent tactical option to have In the squad. He's pretty decent around the pitch too.

 

[ReadieSpur]

? it doesn't make sense as you didn't put "on Winks" in bold. Replacing dross with slightly better dross is the the way to go.

 

[JonnySpurs]

As much as I'm in awe of JWP's set piece delivery, which has always been spectacular. I've never been blown away by his general play. He's not overly quick or strong. Not a great dribbler and I don't even recall him being a great passer of the ball. That said I may just not have paid enough attention to him to really notice.

I'm personally more excited by the links to Tolisso, Zakaria etc although I appreciate they're very different players to JWP.

Lots of links to CMs of late though. Feel like Sissoko and Winks should really be going if we're going to sign someone in this area of the pitch. I suppose if Ndombele's future really is up in the air and we expect him to go by the end of the window then it would be to replace him.

 

[PLTuck]

In a heartbeat. Would massively improve our midfield.

I would imagine it would signal the end for Ndombele though. A midfield 3 of PEH, Lo Celso (if he can stay fit) and JWP has just about everything you want in it.

 

[gnuelwerdna]

The comparison of JWP vs Winks is meaningless. If you believe Winks should leave the club, you should compare JWP with other rumoured CM targets instead.

 

[rabbikeane]

On a side note - what the hell is going on at Southampton? I mean selling their spine in Vestergard to LCFC, Ings to Villa and JWP to whoever - that could relegate them... not like theyre investing whatsoever.

They don't want to sell JWP, but might be forced as they don't have too much money. Vestergaard and Ings both forced their way out with their remaining 1 year contract. Though you'd say they got compensated well for Ings. At the moment they don't have an owner that bankroll them so they have to buy cheap, sell with profit and live within their means.

 

[wrd]

I think the CM targets compared to the CB and striker targets we've heard of so far have been hugely underwhelming. So fingers crossed there's something under wraps if we do go down the getting a midfielder route.

 

[rabbikeane]

We're linked with Sander Berge again as well, saying we've bid 17m. Sounds like more Paratici moves testing the water on several targets, with a midfielder signing in sight. Mostly holding players but different in style JWP+Berge vs more defensive styles of Palhinha, Zakaria etc.