{"id":1369056,"date":"2024-11-23T19:34:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-23T19:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1369056"},"modified":"2024-11-23T19:51:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-23T19:51:31","slug":"james-maddison-tottenham-man-city-son-kulusevski","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/james-maddison-tottenham-man-city-son-kulusevski\/","title":{"rendered":"James Maddison returns to form for Tottenham with a helping hand from Man City’s least-favourite opponents"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Maddison staked his claim for a starting spot Tottenham Hotspur’s midfield with two goals in his side’s 4-0 win over Manchester City.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Englishman had started the season well for Tottenham, two assists in his first two Premier League games. It was a slightly deeper role for Maddison, but that didn’t hamper his creativity.<\/p>\n

But Maddison’s bright start eventually faded away, and he eventually fell out of the starting XI. In the last two games before the international break, Maddison was given just 14 minutes.<\/p>\n

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Six of those minutes came against Ipswich Town, when Tottenham were trailing. It was a tough time for Maddison, and there was speculation surrounding his future as you’d expect with no club football for two weeks.<\/p>\n

“Clearly, with the talent James has, I\u2019d expect him to start all the games, and I\u2019d expect him to finish more games than he is,” Ally McCoist told talkSPORT recently.<\/p>\n

“So it\u2019s a problem for James that he isn\u2019t getting anything like the game time he should be. I don\u2019t know whether the manager has a problem with him or doesn\u2019t think he can last the 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

“But it\u2019d suggest that all is not well, or at least not 100 per cent well.”<\/p>\n

Pape Matar Sarr was preferred in the Tottenham midfield to Maddison, joining Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski. But Bentancur ban has forced Ange Postecoglou into a reshuffle, and Maddison was a beneficiary.<\/p>\n

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