Tottenham midfielder James Maddison produced a fine performance at Man City and Gary Neville has now given some words of advice to him.
Maddison was thrown back into the starting XI and produced the goods for Ange Postecoglou with two goals and an all-action display in the middle.
Indeed, Postecoglou himself lauded Maddison and admitted he was delighted to see his £40m signing turn it on in a big game.
Maddison was, of course, left out of the England squad in the summer and was openly upset about not being selected.
But according to Gary Neville, Maddison can be that main man at England level, as long as he does the other part of the game.
Gary Neville gives James Maddison advice after Tottenham beat Man City
Speaking on Sky Sports about Maddison’s impact on the game, Neville called for the Spurs man to do it more often and take heed of players like Kevin De Bruyne and Wayne Rooney.
“Look, we love his character, we love his personality, we love seeing it when he scores. But to be a serious football player and he has got the potential to be a serious football player, he needs to be what he was in that second half and that’s be tenacious,” Neville said.
“Pep Guardiola came to City and turned David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, two of the most beautiful midfield players, into fantastic defenders. It’s not mutually exlclusive. You can be both a great attacker and defender. You can work your backside off for your team and be a fantastic defender, and also be a creative genius. Some of the greatest I played with, were the greatest spirits.
“I’ll name one, Wayne Rooney, as soon as he lost the ball, he was like a kid in the street trying to win it back. And that’s what Maddison did in the second half.”
Going further with his analysis, Neville then claimed Maddison will be an England regular if he can remain consistent and keep improving.
“For James, don’t be the maverick, don’t be the one that people say ‘oh he doesn’t work hard’. Don’t be that player. Think of them all – Xavi, Iniesta – those who play in that midfield role, be a dog. Be a dog in there. Be that all the time. You’ll be an England player. No one can touch him. All those players we’ve got at England, he can be the best. He ran that game in the second half.”
A turning point for James Maddison’s Tottenham career?
Nobody has any doubt over James Maddison’s talent and what he can deliver at club level when he’s at his best.
The problem now is he’s at a team who are chasing a top four spot and a trophy, and to do that, he needs to produce consistent performances that get his team wins.
At City, Maddison was the best player on the pitch – although Dejan Kulusevski was also praised for his work – and it helped Tottenham to a huge win.
This is the level now for Maddison and as Neville hints later in this clip, eyes will be on the former Leicester man now to check those consistency levels out.