Southampton star James Ward-Prowse claims he wants to shake off the ‘academy boy’ tag that he has been saddled with.
The 24-year old has risen through the ranks with the South Coast club and is now one of the stars under manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.
Having recently received an England re-call after a slew of injuries in Gareth Southgate’s squad, Ward-Prowse has often been viewed as an example that youngsters should follow for the Saints.
However, the playmaker wants to shake this image, and move away from being perceived as the nice guy of football. As reported by the Daily Echo, Ward-Prowse said:
Having come through the academy at Southampton I have always been known as the academy boy, the way to go.
Since the new manager at Southampton came in, he mentioned a few things I needed to change, and I took that on board.
I want to get away from that perception of the Southampton academy boy. That’s not what I want to be anymore.
He [Hasenhuttl] told me to be a bit more aggressive, to try and stamp my authority a bit more on what’s going on, so it was a good conversation I had, and I respected the way he approached me with that.
I have the utmost respect for him. He told me my strengths, my weaknesses and I feel I have benefited from that.
