James Ward-Prowse has been named the captain of the England U-21 squad by Gareth Southgate for the upcoming fixtures during the International break.
The 20-year-old joins fellow Southampton players Matt Targett and Jack Stephens on the U-21 squad which hopes to start their Euro 2017 qualifiers positively. It is not only the U-21’s where Southampton are making an impact on England’s football future. @youthhawk made this great pie chart visualizing the number of players from different clubs on England’s youth teams.
#englandyouth | A club-by-club guide to where the 126 @england U21-U16 call-ups have come from in 2015-16… pic.twitter.com/sdJU0rtM8E
— youthhawk (@youthhawk) September 2, 2015
It is clear that Southampton have a promising crop of English youth.
James has 13 U-21 caps for England already and his leadership and strong play has earned him a consistent and important leadership role on the Young Lions who will play their double header with many new faces on the squad.
The U-21’s take on the United States U-23 team in Preston tonight and will open the Euro 2017 qualifiers in Norway on Monday.
It is clear that teamwork is on the forefront of Ward-Prowse and Southgate’s mind.
Southgate saying, “I’m going to try to involve some more of the players in a leadership group because I think it’s important we develop more leaders — I think it’s a good dynamic for them to come to the fore”
James echoed his manager’s words reiterating,
I will always try to lead by example in the way that I train and play do the things to the best of my ability
It is always tough for the new boys at the start.
It is just a case of doing events outside football to make sure that everyone feels a part of it.
That is the biggest thing – making sure that everyone is on the same page.
It’s vital really. When you are in games, you are going to have ups and downs and in those moments, it’s about making sure the teams comes together.
We have a WhatsApp group set up on our phones, so it’s a pretty efficient way of keeping everyone together.
Ward-Prowse will hope to maneuver through his turbulent international form and reach the height of his ability that helped him spearhead this goal against Germany over the summer.
