Steven Gerrard has labelled James Ward-Prowse a ‘great player’ ahead of this weekend’s Premier League clash between Aston Villa and Southampton, speaking to The National.
If Villa had got their way, the England international might have been wearing claret-and-blue on Saturday afternoon, reuniting with his old employers in front of the Holte End.
Aston Villa made a £25 million bid for Ward-Prowse last summer, after all (Sky Sports).
But, with the Saints skipper in the midst of arguably his most impressive individual campaign to date, Southampton’s decision to resist all offers for their posterboy playmaker has most certainly been justified.
Ward-Prowse has scored seven goals and provided another seven assists in 2021/22.
And, as ever, the conversation soon turned to his famous set-piece ability. Though Gerrard was unwilling to be drawn on whether Ward-Prowse is better from a dead-ball than he was in his Liverpool pomp.
Will James Ward-Prowse show Villa what they’re missing?
“He’s a great player and has obviously took this set-piece side of his game and really mastered it,” Gerrard smiles.
“For me, I always saw it as more of a bonus and concerned myself with my all-round game. But I also had to be behind some set-piece specialists in my younger days so that’s why I’ve probably not mastered it myself!”
Ward-Prowse has now scored 12 free-kicks in his Premier League player. Only one man in the history of the competition has more. And there are no prizes for guessing the identity of that mystery man; Steven Gerrard’s former England team-mate David Beckham.
“Ward-Prowse is maybe the best set-piece taker in the league,” Brentford boss Thomas Frank said in January before taking a 4-1 thumping at St Mary’s. “Maybe he’s even the best free-kick taker in the world,”
“There’s one left-footer at PSG (Lionel Messi) who’s right up there and is pretty good as well. So maybe Ward-Prowse is the best right-footed free-kick taker in the world. So many times he just puts it into the top corner.
“It’s not the same as a penalty but it’s pretty close to it for Ward-Prowse. So we’ve got to be aware of that, trying not to give a foul away around the box.”
Aston Villa could do worse than to take Frank’s advice on board.
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