Tottenham Hotspur fans were overjoyed when they signed James Maddison from Leicester City in the summer.
For years, Spurs were crying out for some much-needed creativity. It had been several years since Christian Eriksen left, yet he hadn’t been replaced.
But when James Maddison entered the building, some were even arguing that he would go on to better what Eriksen did at Hotspur Way.
Even neutral supporters were excited for Spurs because they thought they had potentially had a signing-of-the-season contender on their hands.
After ten Premier League games, Ange Postecoglou’s side were sitting top of the table with eight wins to their name and Maddison producing eight goal involvements. He was absolutely flying!
That’s when injury hit the 27-year-old and he spent a few months on the sidelines, before returning to Spurs colours the shadow of the player he was at the start of the campaign.
Ian Wright thinks a pattern is emerging with Maddison, going back to his Leicester City days, and how he ‘starts unbelievable’, picks up an injury and then drifts towards the end of the season, as he told Premier League Productions (06/05/24 at 2:45 pm).
Since returning from injury, the Euro 2024 hopeful has only assisted twice and scored once.
Even to the point where Postecoglou has dropped him to the bench for key games, but Wright thinks Tottenham need to stick by him, even if Leicester fans warned them about this.
James Maddison’s form
“He starts unbelievable, unfortunately, he gets that injury during the middle of the season and finishes the season at a whimper,” said Wright
“You have to stick with someone like him and hope you can keep him fit. He is going to be a main cog in anything Tottenham do, in respect of creativity and the players he is going to go and give the service to.
“You have to find a way where you can keep him fit. Keep him motivated and bring those players in that are going to help to fulfil the potential that we know he has. But we haven’t seen it frequently enough and consistently enough.”
Tottenham’s summer transfer recruitment
You feel this could and will have a big say on what happens next season. Spurs will have Europe to deal with also.
On a number of occasions this season, the team have proven that when certain personnel, mainly their backline, are out injured or suspended, then there is a huge drop-off.
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That can’t continue next season, or else, this end-of-season collapse will be a lot worse.
Plus, everyone else around them, apart from Chelsea, have had to deal with some form of European campaign, so that depth is needed if the team is to move forward.