SAINT SINNER WINNER
James Ward-Prowse and Ryan Bertrand are standing over the ball. The Old Trafford clock reads 74 minutes and Southampton are trailing Manchester United 2-1. With the home side surging towards the top four and the visitors desperate for points to aid their battle against relegation, tension is high. Yet the midfielder still found a moment to reflect on how far he had come.
“As we stood over the ball, I said to Ryan, ‘These are the moments you dream of in your mum and dad’s back garden,’” Ward-Prowse tells FourFourTwo. “When you’re practising free-kicks and mum’s trying to get you in for dinner, you’re just thinking, ‘One more! One more!’ That was where it all started, really.”
Seconds later, the ball was nestling in the back of the net. The Saints may have eventually lost that March encounter 3-2, but Ward-Prowse repeated the trick a week later against Spurs to secure three crucial points for the south coast club. That was a player rejuvenated.
It’s a blustery afternoon in the wilds of Hampshire, and the affable Saint has been happily posing for pictures for a good 10 minutes. We’ve trekked out to meet the resurgent midfielder at Southampton’s training ground, Staplewood, which looks a scenic place to practise your set-pieces. On the fringe of the New Forest, it’s like a luxury Nordic spa, plus football pitches. The room for our chat is eerily quiet, but as JWP’s arrival nears there’s a random blast of Linkin Park from outside, and
