For some time, Ward-Prowse has ranked highly among the Premier League's best central midfielders. His stats speak for themselves. Yet, the lack of clamour for, and subsequent interest in his services, did not tally with those stats this summer.James Ward Prowse says there is more to his game than set pieces
The former Saints captain cost the Hammers £30m - modest by comparison. For that price, David Moyes is gaining a player with proven Premier League pedigree, experience, leadership, running power - the list goes on. And let's not forget that unrivalled dead ball technique. Ward-Prowse's set-piece delivery is better than any other player currently serving in the English top flight, perhaps even the world.
The box-to-box type, with a powerful engine, a creative eye and unrivalled set-piece ability - all for £30m. Can't be bad.After admitting that David Beckham was his hero and the reason he picked number seven at West Ham, we look at some of the stunning free-kicks from James Ward-Prowse and Beckham. Besides, it's nothing less than he would have wanted - to say a grand farewell to the club he joined as an eight-year-old. Predictably, his cutback found Che Adams for the winner in the 87th minute - a fitting note to end on.
David Moyes' side also ranked third in this metric last term with their counter-attack style, typically bursting from the blocks in transition to utilise pacy wingers Jarrod Bowen or Said Benrahma - or breaching defensive lines for Michail Antonio to chase.That threat on the break is achieved from sitting deeper. Indeed, no team has sat back more than West Ham this season, with their average starting position for open-play passing sequences registering at a league-low 35.