Tottenham Hotspur and England midfielder James Maddison reckons he’s become a ‘scapegoat’, but he’s explained why he “doesn’t mind taking the heat”.
The 28-year-old joined Spurs from relegated Leicester City during the 2023 summer transfer window for around £40m.
Tottenham fended off competition from Premier League rivals to sign Maddison, who grabbed four goals and nine assists in his 28 Premier League appearances in 2023/24.
The attacking midfielder has also consistently contributed goals and assists this term with 17 involvements in his 36 outings in all competitions.
Despite this, Maddison has been criticised at times this season as he’s gone missing in certain matches.
The England international was recently criticised by Roy Keane, who insisted you must be in “cuckoo land” if you believe he can push Spurs into the top six.
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Earlier this week, presenter and former Tottenham striker Gary Lineker suggested Maddison may have had a bust-up with head coach Ange Postecoglou.
Lineker said: “Maddison late coming off the bench again, and when he comes on, he always looks the part, and plays some really good football.
“I’m a bit of a loss as what’s happened there. I wonder whether there’s been a bit of a fall-out.”
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In a new interview, Maddison has offered his thoughts on the media’s perception of him, claiming he’s “ugly enough to take the hits”.
“Yeah but that’s okay, I’d rather that than them talk about Archie [Gray] or Lucas [Bergvall],” Madisson responded in an interview with Sky Sports after being asked whether he ‘feel like he gets talked about a bit too much’ and is a ‘scapegoat’.
“I don’t mind taking the heat a little bit. I’m big enough and ugly enough now to take the hits and take the criticism because I know what I’m capable of, I know what I can do.
“I know my personal level and what people don’t see is what we do behind the scenes and how much we’re trying to improve and how much we work and it’s very cheap to go and sit and talk and criticise.
“Training today, the standard was unbelievable and lads working really hard because we drew at home to Bournemouth, lads are not happy, so they don’t see that it hurts us as well when we’re not doing well in the league.
“I feel good, I actually feel pretty good, feel pretty sharp, really looking forward to Thursday and beyond, try and finish the season special as a team, try and finish the season strong personally, still have a really good season in terms of goals and assists and try and look for the positives and try and spread that through the dressing room instead of focusing on the negatives and the doom and gloom of the league position.”