James Ward-Prowse: Southampton midfielder on the art of free-kick taking
Free-kick taking is a skill attempted by many in the Premier League but one few have mastered.
David Beckham, Gianfranco Zola, Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo are synonymous with the art form, but natural successors to that illustrious quartet have been few and far between.
One player steadily building a reputation as a set-piece specialist, though, is Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse.
The England international caught up with former Saints captain and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp – who is in the top 10 Premier League free-kicks scorers – during the lockdown to discuss the art of free-kicks on The Football Show.
The ultimate buzz
„[Free-kicks are] the ultimate thing for me. It was always something [from a young age] I liked because you could score incredible goals.
„As soon as a free-kick is awarded you get a buzz on and think, ‘this is a great chance for me to score a good goal’.
„I get a little bit nervous because you don’t get many, so when you get that one you think ‘right, this has got to be the one’.
„If you practise a lot in the week it comes down to that moment, and if you don’t execute it well, you’re gutted.“
Visualisation
„I always try to set my free-kicks just off-centre in the middle of the goal so hopefully the curve takes it away from the goalkeeper.
„That’s my technique. If it has pace the goalkeeper shouldn’t have a chance.
„I try and start it on the goalkeeper and make him think he has a chance, and then have it curl away.“
Practice makes perfect
„Thursday is usually my day for kicking a few balls. I pick a bag of balls up away from everybody else and shrug off the defenders trying to take them! I always try to take them alone and in my own space.
„I need to try and get some mannequins and set something up at home. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer [being in lockdown], we are all missing playing the game but, more importantly, we have to be safe and make sure we are in a fit mind to go back and play.
„I’m missing football a lot, it’s what we all love doing. You miss that Thursday, Friday build-up to games, where you get that feeling of anticipation in your stomach.
„I think I might start re-watching some of the game to try and get that buzz back. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer, and we can get back doing the thing we love doing.“
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.
