Southampton: Has James Ward-Prowse lost his place?

Six games into the Premier League season, Saints fans are wondering what will James Ward-Prowse’s role be?

At 22 years of age, the England international is still considered one of the country’s top young talents. However, opportunities with his club have been hard to come by in recent weeks. Increased competition within the side, and an undefined role have clearly limited JWP’s minutes.

Ward-Prowse began the season as a starting center-midfielder for Southampton against Swansea City. However, since the Swans game, he has been a first choice midfielder for Mauricio Pellegrino only three times. Playing the full 90 minutes just once, in the EFL Cup. 80th minute cameos in the last two games, against Manchester United and Crystal Palace, have me worried he may have lost his place.

A look at his appearances help paint the picture:

Swansea – 71 minutes – tactical sub (Boufal) – Centre-Midfielder
West Ham – Substitute – 65th minute – Centre-Midfielder
Wolves – 90 minutes – Centre-Midfielder
Huddersfield – Substitute – 71st minute – Attacking-Midfielder
Watford – 45 minutes – removed at half (Tadic) – Attacking-Midfielder
Crystal Palace – Substitute – 85th minute – Attacking-Midfielder
Manchester United – Substitute – 83rd minute – Right Wing-Back

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 12: James Ward-Prowse of Southampton during the Premier League match between Southampton and Swansea City at St Mary’s Stadium on August 12, 2017 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Alex Morton/Getty Images) /

The positive here is that he has featured in each game this season. Pellegrino clearly wants to use him, but is having difficulty finding him a spot.

The emergence of Mario Lemina is a huge factor. Lemina looks poised to sit next to 2016/17 Southampton Player of the Season, Oriol Romeu, for the foreseeable future. His last two performances receiving rave reviews from experts.

More from Saints Marching

Steven Davis captains the squad, which makes JWP the fourth choice centre-midfielder in Pellegrino’s 4-2-3-1. This is likely why we have seen him in a more attacking role in recent weeks. Experimenting him as a right-wing-back at the end of the Manchester United game was interesting, although this was clearly tactical. Southampton were desperately searching for a goal against a side “parking the bus.”

I personally would like to see Ward-Prowse get some run on the right side. This is where he can effectively display his greatest strength, driving crosses into the box with whip and pace. However, that seems to be a role for the wing-back within the formation, and I doubt the manager would trust him there for a full 90.

One could argue that he is better suited than Cedric Soares in this role. Cedric continues to display a lack of quality in his service, and has recently been quoted on the importance of wing-backs in the Southampton attack.

Ward-Prowse is either going to have to adapt or be patient. We all know injuries will arise, but the fixture list is not long enough to count on that. With just the Premier League and FA Cup to look forward to, JWP’s opportunities may be few and far between.

Next: Diouf wary of Saints presence

I am confident he has the mindset to overcome the lack of minutes. Ward-Prowse has been in this situation before, under Koeman and Puel. Although, it has to be discouraging for a player, brought up through the Southampton academy, to lose his place so quickly under a new manager.

I hope JWP’s senior squad position has not been lost. Although his role could be defined as midfield depth on a talented Saints roster. For this reason, I would not be surprised if we saw him with the U23’s in future weeks. Which is a shame for a player Saints fans were counting on to consistently contribute in the starting eleven.