James Maddison probably hasn’t had the success he would have wanted at Tottenham.
Last summer, when Tottenham brought him in from then-relegated Leicester City, it excited the fans because this was a signing and the type of player they were crying out for.
After ten Premier League matches, Maddison was flying, with his club sitting top of the Premier League table and in dreamland under their new manager, Ange Postecoglou.
But then Tottenham were beaten by Chelsea – a game where Maddison and Micky van de Ven got injured and the team’s season started to derail before you could get your Christmas lights out.
That cost the 27-year-old because, when he returned to action, he wasn’t himself, he lost his form and even his place in Postecoglou’s XI
Maddison was then dropped from England’s Euro 2024 squad and, as a result, he has started this new season with the bit between his teeth.
After three Premier League games, he has two assists, but Jeff Stelling is frustrated by what Postecoglou keeps doing, as he highlighted after Tottenham were beaten at Newcastle.
The popular presenter keeps questioning why Postecoglou insists on substituting Maddison again and again – he has been taken off every game this season.
Ally McCoist agreed and added that it is ‘really strange’ that the Spurs boss keeps going down this road, as he told talkSPORT (02/09/24 at 6:10 am).
James Maddison under Ange Postecoglou
“I watched Spurs and I can’t believe Spurs got beat,” said McCoist about the Newcastle result.
Stelling responded: “It was impossible. It was a case of watching the game and thinking ‘Spurs are sure to score in a minute, Spurs are sure to score in a minute, oh crikey, Newcastle have scored’. It was unthinkable, unimaginable, and on a serious side, it’s an issue for Postecoglou because they have to put these games when they dominate so much. And why does he always take Maddison off?”
McCoist then admitted: “That’s a strange one. That’s a really, really strange one.”
Can James Maddison get back into the England squad?
There is a new manager in the dugout after Gareth Southgate left his post at England, with Lee Carsley in interim charge.
It’s not a good look for Maddison that he hasn’t been selected, but Carsley did hint that he will be looking at more talent as the games wear on.
You sense if Maddison doesn’t get picked in these coming months, then he will feel his England career has, once again, hit another massive stumbling block.
The all-action playmaker has been through this before he went several years without getting picked by his country.
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