James Maddison was the cover star of Tottenham‘s official pre-match programme on Sunday with a comprehensive in-house interview spanning six pages within.
In it, Maddison spoke about feeling “alive on the pitch” and “as fit as I’ve ever felt”, of playing at a “high level” and the importance of dealing with setbacks, like missing out on England’s Euro 2024 squad, in the right way. All fairly vanilla stuff, typical club content fare.
Those words seemed more significant, though, when he was omitted from Ange Postecoglou‘s starting line-up for a crucial game against top four rivals Aston Villa on tactical grounds. If one of Tottenham’s most talented players is fit and on form, then why isn’t he being picked?
It was the first time this season that Maddison hadn’t started a Premier League game, but his minutes have dwindled in recent weeks.
While Postecoglou has frequently substituted Maddison off in the past – he has only completed 90 minutes once in his last 24 league appearances – the Australian has done so earlier than usual of late. In previous two league matches pre-Villa against West Ham and Crystal Palace, Maddison was withdrawn at half-time and after 61 minutes respectively.
He was also a spectator during Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, the club’s best result since Postecoglou was appointed 17 months ago.
It’s a peculiar situation for a senior player to be in. When Maddison joined from Leicester for £40m in 2023, he looked primed to become a pivotal part of the club’s rebuild under Postecoglou, even more so when Harry Kane left a few weeks later.
Postecoglou’s decision to appoint him as one of his two vice-captains (he’s third in command, behind Son Heung-min and Cristian Romero) further proved his importance to the project. But his status appears to have slipped with Postecoglou preferring different players with different profiles in his search to strike a better overall balance in the centre of the pitch.
“I just felt we needed some more running power in that midfield area,” Postecoglou explained after replacing Maddison with Pape Matar Sarr in the 4-1 win over West Ham last month.
He made the same point after the Villa victory when clarifying why he selected Sarr, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur as his starting midfield.
“I knew he [Sarr] would be important today because they’ve got such a hard-working midfield with [Amadou] Onana, [Youri] Tielemans and [John] McGinn in there, [Morgan] Rogers. They don’t really play with wide players, they work awfully hard in that midfield area and you’ve got to match that.”
Spurs’ balance certainly looks better when they have a sitter (Bentancur), a runner (Sarr) and a creator (Kulusevski), than when they have two playmakers. Spurs lost the midfield battle at Selhurst Park when Postecoglou picked Maddison and Kulusevski with Yves Bissouma behind them. Crystal Palace dominated the middle of the pitch which gave them the foundation to win the game.
Kulusevski’s move infield and excellent start to the campaign has presented a problem for Maddison. If there is only space for one of them in the team against high-energy opponents (ie most Premier League sides) the Swede is currently the favoured option.
Not only has Kulusevski created more chances per 90 minutes than Maddison so far this season (with 3.2 compared to 2.5), but he also offers a more combative, physical presence. “His running capacity is ridiculous,” Postecoglou said of Kulusevski last week.
That’s not to say that Maddison’s output has been poor. Far from it, in fact. He has scored three goals and provided three assists in 10 Premier League games this season, including that sensational free-kick against Villa as a late sub. According to Whoscored, Maddison has been the eighth-best performing player in the division so far based on underlying data. He has created as many chances as Mo Salah despite playing 190 fewer minutes than him.
Over the past 10 days, he has also reached two significant Premier League milestones, first joining the 200-appearance club and then scoring his 50th goal. At only 27, there should be plenty more landmarks to come.
Although Maddison will want to be a guaranteed starter, the fact he isn’t is a good thing for Postecoglou and Spurs and proof of their evolution. At the start of last season, the thought of Maddison being omitted from the team on tactical grounds would have seemed absurd given how brilliantly he started his Spurs career. It is no longer unthinkable with Postecoglou having a deeper midfield pool to pick from.
Christian Eriksen was the last natural No 10 that Spurs had before Maddison and the club’s failure to sign another playmaker during the Dane’s seven years in north London meant that he was overworked and overplayed. That isn’t the case now with Maddison and Kulusevski competing for one spot. If they end up sharing minutes it should ensure that they remain fresher and able to contribute more effectively.
Whether Maddison is happy to play a more scaled-down role is another matter, though.
A proud Englishman, he will be desperate to force his way back into the national squad under Thomas Tuchel but with competition fierce at the top end of the pitch, he will only do so if he is playing consistently. He’s not the type of player who will be happy to sit on the bench.
“It’s important that you enjoy what you do, and you love what you do,” he said in the Spurs programme. “I always say and people are probably bored hearing it, but I love football.”
He is clearly a popular player in the squad too. After bending the free-kick into the top corner of Emi Martinez’s net, Maddison was mobbed by his teammates with even Guglielmo Vicario joining in the huddle.
He is a leader and a reference point for younger players in the squad, including Brennan Johnson, his best friend at the club, and the precociously gifted teenager Mikey Moore who he has spoken glowingly about.
After the final whistle was blown on Sunday, Postecoglou made a beeline for Maddison and wrapped him up in a bear hug in a public show of affection. There is clearly much about Maddison’s game that his boss likes. Now his challenge is to reinforce his position as a pivotal part of Postecoglou’s plans.