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Player Watch Player Watch: James Maddison

Tucker

Shitehawk
Jul 15, 2013
34,033
158,501
He was too lightweight up against Bowen and Antonio a few times, that’s not a dig, but we definitely needed a more physical player in there to stop them breaking on us.

Bringing Sarr on was a good call.
 

Cochise

Well-Known Member
Aug 8, 2019
5,535
14,402
I think perhaps people are over playing this as him falling out of favour but at the same time he is quite poor defensively.

One of the MOTD clips really highlighted how poor he is at tracking runs but also having no idea where his man is.
 

TheHodFather

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2013
630
1,783
A fabulous player in some respects, but also one with some obvious flaws. I'm starting to think he's one of those players that you have to build the team around in order to accomodate those flaws and get the best out of them. Question is whether he's good enough for a team aiming to compete at the very highest level to make him the "main man", and I'm not sure he is.

It'll be interesting to see how this all pans out. For my money Deki is offering more as the most advanced midfielder, and I'm not sure if Madders has got the engine - or perhaps even the inclination - to operate in one of the deeper midfield roles.
 

mill

Well-Known Member
May 21, 2007
10,689
38,237
A fabulous player in some respects, but also one with some obvious flaws. I'm starting to think he's one of those players that you have to build the team around in order to accomodate those flaws and get the best out of them. Question is whether he's good enough for a team aiming to compete at the very highest level to make him the "main man", and I'm not sure he is.

It'll be interesting to see how this all pans out. For my money Deki is offering more as the most advanced midfielder, and I'm not sure if Madders has got the engine - or perhaps even the inclination - to operate in one of the deeper midfield roles.
Too much of a fanny at times as well, kulu just gets on with it
 

carpediem1906

COYS singapore spurs
Sep 3, 2011
852
2,583
Thing is

modern day squads are built to negate the reliance on a first xi

Madders is devastating against some opponents and when on form, is one of the best around.

However, he can have poor games too - look at how many corners he wasted ytd too - or when we need to tweak something and our midfield options are stacked to allow substitutes to come in and offer that

He’s still gonna be default first xi for most games though
 

SUIYHA

Well-Known Member
Jan 15, 2017
1,868
9,198
I raised eyebrows when I saw the Maddison/Kulu/Bentancur midfield earlier in the season as I thought it was too attack minded with not enough cover. It's mostly done well, but you can see where the vulnerabilities come from.

He's a funny one. I think he's probably the most talented player in our squad, but the fact that he's been substituted every game this season and has only completed 90 minutes twice since his injury in November is a concern. I suspect now we'll see a more conservative midfield three from now, particularly away from home and in the bigger games, meaning he may start from the bench.

But what an option to have from the bench...
 

SonicSarr

Well-Known Member
Jun 7, 2012
3,005
5,207
Shearer highlighted the difference quite clearly on MOTD. We looked much better with Sarr next to Biss, dominated control of the midfield, allowed no space for WH AM's and turned over the ball a lot better.
 

PCozzie

Well-Known Member
Sep 9, 2020
4,763
22,017
One other plus from that sub is that Maddison has had less football than anticipated now and can play a greater role on Thursday in the Europa where he's likely to be more effective.
 

Tucker

Shitehawk
Jul 15, 2013
34,033
158,501
Shouldn’t be forgotten that he did actually contribute an assist yesterday before he was subbed. He didn’t have his best game, but I believe he’s been one of our best players over the course of this season his pressing has been key in a number of games.

Was a good call to bring on a more physical player in the second half, but talk of him losing his place in the team is fanciful imo.
 

Mr Pink

SC Supporter
Aug 25, 2010
57,247
107,606
Shearer highlighted the difference quite clearly on MOTD. We looked much better with Sarr next to Biss, dominated control of the midfield, allowed no space for WH AM's and turned over the ball a lot better.

Yeah we did. I think if its a physical game we need that extra energy/work rate.
 

Mr Pink

SC Supporter
Aug 25, 2010
57,247
107,606
Shouldn’t be forgotten that he did actually contribute an assist yesterday before he was subbed. He didn’t have his best game, but I believe he’s been one of our best players over the course of this season his pressing has been key in a number of games.

Was a good call to bring on a more physical player in the second half, but talk of him losing his place in the team is fanciful imo.

I agree he has been good but I dont think its fanciful at all.

Not that he should be losing his place as such, but the midfield should be dependent on who we're playing.

Away to Palace, Id go with the three who finishef the game. That will be another pyhsical battle in the middle of the park, with the crowd behind them. Also gives us a great option from the bench for that one.

At home to Ipswich, for example, play Madders and Kulu.

All about being smart with selections.
 

Jamturk

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2008
10,248
23,861
Ange has made this kind of change before.

The significant difference about yesterday's was that he didn't shunt Kulu out to the right to accommodate.
 

Tucker

Shitehawk
Jul 15, 2013
34,033
158,501
I agree he has been good but I dont think its fanciful at all.

Not that he should be losing his place as such, but the midfield should be dependent on who we're playing.

Away to Palace, Id go with the three who finishef the game. That will be another pyhsical battle in the middle of the park, with the crowd behind them. Also gives us a great option from the bench for that one.

At home to Ipswich, for example, play Madders and Kulu.

All about being smart with selections.
Horses for courses, sure. But I fully expect him to be starting more games than he doesn’t. He’s not suddenly going to become an option from the bench who only gets starts against duffers like Ipswich.

Fully expect him to start against Palace next week too tbh.
 

14/04/91

Well-Known Member
Jan 13, 2006
3,882
6,541
I think Kulusevski’s positional change is highlighting Maddison’s flaws.
He is just as creative but also does a hell of a lot more running.
Last season without Maddison in the team we had very little creativity, now we get that from Kulusevski, with a lot more on the defensive side.

There will be games where both can play but right now, I’d say Maddison is not a guaranteed starter every week.
 

Mr Pink

SC Supporter
Aug 25, 2010
57,247
107,606
Horses for courses, sure. But I fully expect him to be starting more games than he doesn’t. He’s not suddenly going to become an option from the bench who only gets starts against duffers like Ipswich.

Fully expect him to start against Palace next week too tbh.

Against Palace...Im not so sure.

Theyll work their socks off with the crowd behind them.

I think we're too open for cauldron like games, with both Kulu and Madders starting.
 

N'Obody

Well-Known Member
Aug 8, 2019
595
2,442
It's good to see we are moving away from a set XI. Maddison is a quality player either way, but we need the options available to switch a game up from time to time and yesterday was a perfect example of that.
 

Ribble

Well-Known Member
Apr 13, 2011
3,689
5,132
Shouldn’t be forgotten that he did actually contribute an assist yesterday before he was subbed. He didn’t have his best game, but I believe he’s been one of our best players over the course of this season his pressing has been key in a number of games.

Was a good call to bring on a more physical player in the second half, but talk of him losing his place in the team is fanciful imo.

Created 5 chances in the first half, more than anyone else. I'd definitely not be averse to seeing an early change like that more often, would probably help keep Madders fit for longer over the course of a season.
 

BC11

Well-Known Member
Jul 2, 2012
113
280
I love Maddison, he's a great player and underrated by most Spurs fans IMO. His ability to receive under pressure, twist and turn and then play a threatening pass is up there with the best in the league.
Yesterday we just weren't competing in duels and with Kulusevski in the form he's in it had to be Maddison to come off.
 

ComfortablyNumb

Well-Known Member
Jun 28, 2011
4,464
6,747
Against Palace...Im not so sure.

Theyll work their socks off with the crowd behind them.

I think we're too open for cauldron like games, with both Kulu and Madders starting.
Agreed. As it stands, starting with Deki, and having Madders replace him after an hour or so could get the best out of the pair of them, and keep them fresh all season. And if Deki's form dips we can swap around. Having the extra legs from Sarr improved us.
 
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