One of the newest players to take the stage is West Ham United‘s 30-year-old midfielder, James Ward-Prowse. He addressed the media Wednesday at the launch of the Curl Master ONE. His comments underscored the team’s lack of introspection. Fresh off a difficult campaign where they languished in 15th place in the Premier League, expectations were low. West Ham is preparing for their European adventure next season. Ward-Prowse has a chance to be that player as he tries to lead this squad to raise the bar.
The past two years have been shaky for Ward-Prowse since his arrival at West Ham. Signed to a Sllva blueprint largely drawn up by David Moyes, he was subjected to a harsh whirlwind of regimen changes that included a loan spell under Julen Lopetegui. Under Graham Potter, who signed him in January for the London club, it’s another story, another productive chapter in a career that is very much still alive.
Perhaps, in time, Ward-Prowse will look back on his career and be proud of remarkable milestones. He played more than 400 times in the Premier League with Southampton before making his move to West Ham. On his impressive statistics, he sits just one goal shy of equalling David Beckham’s record for the most free-kick goals in Premier League history. This recent near miss puts the heat on him to even further improve his game.
Recounting last season, Ward-Prowse admitted it was tough at times with Graham Potter’s style of management. The team soon encountered difficulties in keeping consistency. The win percentage that Potter managed in his 19 games is lower than the one that Lopetegui managed across his 22 games. “I think I need to look on the experience as a positive one, that you’re in the position that you’re in because you’ve done so well to get to this level,” Ward-Prowse stated.
With a potentially long summer ahead of them, Ward-Prowse and his teammates will have much to ponder. Beyond that, they will look at how they performed and plan out how to improve in order to move themselves higher up next term. The U.S. midfielder understands the value of veteran leadership inside the team’s midfield and knows that balance is key.
“I think everybody leads in different ways,” – James Ward-Prowse
Ward-Prowse’s vision of leadership is not restricted to old stereotypes. He preaches the power of leading by example and creating a collaborative atmosphere around one’s peers. “I don’t think you need to be this stereotypical shouter and sort of aggressor. You can be more of a subtle leader,” he explained.
So as West Ham gears up for pre-season, Ward-Prowse is understandably eager to drop a culture of high standards into the dressing room. His experience and positive, composed approach will be central to how the squad sets up and plays heading into this era of development, and beyond. “Try and lead by example, try and drive the standards in a sort of a secretive way, if you like,” he remarked.
Looking forward, Ward-Prowse seemed confident that this team had more in store for them yet. Now, Ortiz thinks that success is within the community’s reach and that preparation will make all the difference. So why have that fear of, ‘oh, is it going to happen?’ I’m positive it’s going to happen. It’s really a matter of that time and being prepared for it,” he continued.
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