Departures of influential characters this summer, including but not limited to vice-captain Oriol Romeu, have left a power vacuum in the Saints dressing room. Cooperation is at the heart of it all, but those strongest will emerge with the biggest stock and, in doing so, be elected responsible for their peers.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “Not now. I want to give ourselves a little bit of time to find each other and find together. When you lose a lot of experience in the team you can say there is a vacuum, or you can say there is opportunities for getting a new hierarchy. We are momentarily in the storming phase where everyone is wanting to put something in, and we will see after so long who is swimming at the top and then we will take this decision.”
Ward-Prowse, of course, remains a constant.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “For now, we have just Prowsey as captain and this is okay for me.”
Kyle Walker-Peters recently revealed to the Daily Echo that he targets being a future club captain, and is likely leading the charge in this dressing room shake-up. The former Tottenham Hotspur defender insisted he is becoming more opinionated, speaking up in team meetings and challenging staff when appropriate.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “That’s good yeah, it should be a target of every player that at one time they want to be club captain. But it is clear not everybody has everything to be a captain, but it is good, yes. I like players that want to take responsibility and the best thing is to be a role model on the pitch. It always helps maybe to get a chance one time when Ward-Prowse isn’t. I think it is a normal way of progress when you are starting to think a little bit more about the game, Kyle has a clear opinion and has the power to speak and to say when things are not going the way he wants to. This is good, to have an opinion on football is never a wrong thing. From that point of view, he is a smart guy and is really interested in tactical things, of changes, and he has also a clear view of his position.”
