Midfielder-turned-pundit Roy Keane has questioned whether James Maddison can be the difference-maker for Tottenham Hotspur – so much so that Ian Wright and Gary Neville had to interject to show support for the attacking midfielder.
In Ange Postecoglou’s second season at the helm, things have gone sour – and plenty of that is down to their exhaustive list of injury problems to the likes of central defensive duo Cristian Romeo and Micky van de Ven. Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario too.
Maddison, 28, is also among the current absentees from the Tottenham squad. He picked up a calf strain last month and has since been sidelined for Spurs’ last five games in all competitions – from those in the Premier League to Europa League clashes.
Postecoglou, as a result, has been attempting to fit square pegs in round holes. The former Celtic man’s back line, in particular, has been entirely makeshift, while finding a temporary replacement for Tottenham’s creator-in-chief Maddison has proved onerous.
Tottenham are somewhat staring down the barrel of a potential relegation dogfight if they do not experience an upturn in results between now and the end of the campaign. Keane is under the impression that Maddison may not help them get back on track.
While discussing which players at Tottenham can have a real impact on proceedings when they return from injury, Wright – albeit much to the surprise of his pal, Keane – interjected to throw the England international’s name into the hat.
A perplexed Keane replied: “Hold on a second. Come on, Maddison! We saw Maddison at Tamworth, he was taken off. Tamworth are non-league. People say ‘Maddison’s the man’, when is he going to step up to the plate? He got relegated with Leicester, he’s about to get relegated with Spurs!”
Wright, regarded as one of the greatest strikers in Premier League history, and Neville jumped to the ex-Leicester City man’s defence, claiming that – despite Keane’s scathing criticism – they have his back and believe he can benefit Spurs.
Wright, once again, leaped to defend the Coventry City graduate and insisted that it is now down to him to silence the critics – including the aforementioned Keane – once he’s deemed fit and raring to return to the pitch.
The Irishman continued, “He’s a talented player but if you’re a player in the Spurs dressing room and Maddison’s back in the squad, you wouldn’t be looking and going ‘Oh Jesus, he’s back today! We’re going to be fine!’ England have a squad of 300, he can’t even get in that! Don’t kid yourselves everybody.”
Coventry-born Maddison, who has seven senior England caps added to his CV, moved to north London in the summer of 2023 and has struggled to entirely find his feet. He’s hit 28 goal involvements in 61 appearances but now has the mountainous task of firing his side further up the Premier League table.
