Maddison Must Discover Early Season Form Ahead Of Euro 2024

James Maddison, a player who had been much desired by many leading teams in the Premier League for some time due to his impressive performances at Leicester City, was finally signed up by Spurs. As they were always admirers of this attacking midfielder, it seemed like an excellent move not only for the club but also for Maddison and England. However, the six-time England cap must rediscover his early-season form ahead of Euro 2024.

Maddison, 27, who joined Spurs following Leicester City’s relegation to the Championship, arrived to be the missing piece in the jigsaw. It was a team that lacked a creative genius, and Maddison wasn’t only believed to be that guy, but he proved it in his first eleven Premier League appearances for his new club. In those eleven performances, Maddison’s yield was three goals and six assists, which saw him pencilled in as one of the signings of the season in the early stages of the campaign. But then disaster in the form of an ankle injury struck.

This setback has so far proven pivotal, with Maddison having missed ten Premier League games and Ange Postecoglu’s side struggling as a result. The good news is that Maddison is now back and has started nine league games in a row at the time of writing. But so far, that early season form has eluded the Coventry-born playmaker, and he may need to rediscover it if he’s to make Gareth Southgate’s squad, especially with so many players chomping at the bit due to England being the favourite to win the tournament according to Euro 2024 betting markets.

Football fans have long questioned Maddison’s absence from England squads, asking why he only has a handful of senior caps to his name. But Southgate has selected him more recently, with sixteen minutes played from the bench in the Three Lions’ 2-2 draw with Belgium last month. It shows Maddison is in his international manager’s thinking but remains somewhat on the periphery, and an uplift is going to be the only way to change that ahead of the Euros.

As things stand, the inform pair of Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham and Manchester City’s Phil Foden are ahead of Maddison in the pecking order. However, when the latter is in form and flying, as seen in Spurs’ early Premier League fixtures, he has the eye for things that other players lack, and his creative ability could be the key to unlocking stout defences and low blocks in the upcoming international tournament.

England, especially under Southgate of late, have been criticised for lacking in the final third. For being a team with the handbrake on too often. It’s led to some dismal performances and an inability to go from being a team that’s nearly there to being one that’s got what it takes to win trophies. An in-form Maddison, operating in his favoured number ten role, could prove to be the missing piece to the England jigsaw as he has been to Spurs. But he must get back to his best first.