West Ham United: Rio Ferdinand shares what James Ward-Prowse should do after ‘disrespectful’ international development
Rio Ferdinand believes West Ham United midfielder James Ward-Prowse should retire from international after the “disrespectful” England snub from Gareth Southgate.
Speaking on the FIVE podcast (3 September), Ferdinand believes the fact that Ward-Prowse has been putting up impressive numbers recently at club level means he should be getting picked over Kalvin Phillips who doesn’t play for his club.
Gareth Southgate opted to leave the Irons midfielder out of his squad for games against Ukraine and Scotland [Sky Sports, 31 August] despite his impressive form since making the switch to the London Stadium, with Phillips and Jordan Henderson who moved to Saudi Arabia, preferred by the Three Lions boss.
And Ferdinand believes it is a “kick in the teeth” for the West Ham midfielder who will probably think about calling time on his international career.
He said: “I’ve never known a manager to pick players that are consistently not playing.
“I get it if a player hasn’t played for five, six or 10 games maybe. But Phillips and Maguire don’t kick a ball. They don’t play, they do warm-ups and they’re getting in England squads. It amazes me.
“Kalvin with respect isn’t anywhere near the Man City team. He won a treble last year and well done to him but he ain’t kicked a ball. These men ain’t playing football and they’re still getting in a team based off of work that they done two, three years ago.
“They’ll be other young midfielders or [someone like] James Ward-Prowse that are thinking, “Wow, what’s happening here? How come I’m not getting a look in?”. It’s a kick in the teeth.
“I’d retire. If I’m someone like Ward-Prowse I’d just retire. Say, “Listen, don’t pick me no more. There’s no point. It’s disrespectful what you’re doing”.
“It is to people like him, especially Ward-Prowse who’s been putting up numbers for his team on a regular basis. What more does a man got to do to get a sniff?”
Blessing in disguise
It’s absolutely baffling that Southgate has decided to stick with Phillips and Maguire when they’re not even getting a look in for their clubs, especially the former who has hardly played for Manchester City since his move from Leeds United.
Ward-Prowse is enjoying a sensational start to the campaign for his new club and has been consistently performing at a great level over the past year or so, and must be totally bemused at the constant rejection from Southgate.
The former Southampton midfielder is an underrated and underappreciated commodity right now and it’s a shame he’s not getting the recognition he deserves for England because his character, professionalism and mentality alone that should have made him a certainty for the setup, ahead of Phillips.
However, from a selfish point of view, West Ham United may not mind the fact their new midfield signing will get a couple of weeks off and a bit of a rest so early in the season as it massively reduces the chance of him picking up an injury during the international break.
Furthermore, it allows David Moyes the opportunity to work a bit more with the midfielder on the training ground after he missed a portion of pre-season with the Hammers while they completed the deal to sign him from Southampton.
It’s a baffling decision from Southgate but it’s a blessing in disguise for Moyes and West Ham.
In other West Ham news, one London Stadium target could have cost around just £15m had the Hammers made a last-ditch attempt to sign him.