A quick, late word on Southgate and the skipper

James Ward-Prowse is sublime but offers too much of what England already has

I’ve been writing a piece this week called in “In Defence of Ibrahima Diallo”. It was already heavily weighted down with caveats and is hugely reined-in by comparison with what I might have written a year ago, but after yesterday’s Sheffield-Wednesday-Night shitshow I’ve totally lost confidence in the piece. I was really keen to publish this weekend, so fortunately the England squad announcement gives me a chance to offer a quick word on the man who plays next to him, an uncomplicatedly great footballer who has again been harshly overlooked for the national side.

There is a feeling among Saints fans that the skipper has had a poor start to the season and that this is a factor in his omission. Jacob Tanswell rightly points out that his diminished influence is a result of being saddled with increased defensive responsibility in Lavia’s absence. This is entirely accurate, and it’s probably also why my Diallo article is dead in the water. The Frenchman just cannot cover. That said, it’s still probably a fair assessment that James Ward-Prowse has been slightly off the pace in some games this season.

But I don’t think this has anything to do with his omission from the England squad. It’s worth remembering that Southgate has known Ward-Prowse longer than any other player in the England frame. In 2013, newly appointed England Under-21 manager Gareth Southgate gave Ward-Prowse his first call-up, and started the 18-year-old for his first game in charge against Moldova. For three years, Southgate’s entire tenure, he was a permanent fixture in the team. The two have already won tournaments together: Ward-Prowse captained Southgate’s side to victory in the 2016 Toulon Tournament, shortly before Southgate was named caretaker of the senior team after Roy Hodgson’s dismissal. Ward-Prowse narrowly missed out on England Under-21 Player of the Year to — fun fact — Nathan Redmond. So, aside from JWP being one of the most hard-working, consistent, flexible what-you-see-is-what-you get midfielders I could name, if Southgate is willing to overlook the form of trusted players like Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire, I think it’s unlikely he’s suddenly lost confidence in Ward-Prowse.

In fact, the longevity of his association with Southgate is likely a big part of Ward-Prowse’s problem. Having worked with him for three years, I suspect Southgate now has an incredibly long-standing and fixed perception of the skipper, such that he is unlikely to easily revise that opinion either up or down. Truthfully, as someone who’s watched him play since he was eighteen, I’ve been just as bad. It took me a long time to adjust to the idea that JWP was no longer the handy, workhorse, utility squad player that I’d known and was instead the complete all-round, all-action midfield talisman that churns out ridiculous numbers in every corner of his game.

However, I do think there’s also some substantive and fair reasons that Southgate has passed him over. In my view, JWP’s principal problem is that he offers too much of what England already has. One reason I was slow to uprate my opinion of Ward-Prowse was that his chance creation still owes mostly to his crossing and set pieces. There is nothing wrong with that — chances are chances. But you have to ask, does it benefit England that much to have another right-footed player who is even better at crosses, corners and free-kicks than Kieran Trippier (who is now guaranteed to start)? England already have this in spades, but conversely, historically their biggest deficiency is a midfielder who can reliably progress the ball into the the final third. For all his quality, Ward-Prowse does not carry the ball up the park like Declan Rice, or slip passes between the lines like James Maddison, or drag teams out of shape like [redacted player from Portsmouth] or, do, well, all of the magical shit that Jude Bellingham promises. This is the best way I can think to explain the inclusion of Gallagher, who though vastly inexperienced and less versatile, is at least a radically different kind of midfielder to Ward-Prowse. Henderson on the other hand, I just… I have no words.

In that respect, coming full circle to my dead-ass Diallo article, Southampton and England have this in common. Both sides lack a creative spark behind the front line, a way to pick the lock in a defence, an idea about how they are supposed to break teams down when they have the ball. But where Southampton’s only alternative to Ward-Prowse is Diallo, England have a wealth of other tools in the box. If the skipper is going to be passed over, I will be fuming if Southgate doesn’t at least figure out how to use them come November 21st.

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