There’s simply no doubt about it, on James Maddison’s day he is arguably one of the most gifted attacking midfielders on the continent let alone England.
Seasoned creators like Bruno Fernandes, Kevin De Bruyne, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Hakan Çalhanoğlu to name a few of Europe’s most prestigious final third magicians; these players’ lofty elite levels aren’t too high for Maddison to reach when is on song.
In fact, there are periods in each passing season where Maddison is actually on-par with those names, grabbing the iniative in matches, and becoming Leicester City’s main creative hub when they are in desperate need of goals.
But that’s just it, they are only ‘periods’. There’s too many instances where we don’t see the real James Maddison at all. When Leicester have their backs against the wall at crucial points in the season, the midfielder is nowhere to be found, clutching at straws, and that’s what separates him from Europe’s elite creators.
These are players who don’t only perform in spells or periods during a season, but who provide the missing ingredients and much needed inspiration on a consistent basis when their clubs need it most.
It’s no wonder why Gareth Southgate is justified in out-casting Maddison from his England setup – due his worrying consistency levels.
James Maddison is capable of reaching those incredible levels, and that’s where he must take his game to next if he is to be considered amongst those elite creators in Europe.
Last season has got to be considered his most productive yet, recording 11 goals and 9 assists in all competitions – 8 goals and 5 assists in the Premier League – but the challenge was to build on that. As successful as Leicester’s campaign was last year, it was a challenge for not only Maddison to build on those performances, but for the whole team too.
So far this season, it just hasn’t clicked for Brendan Rodgers and his men. Many expected them to be where West Ham currently are in fourth or fifth spot, a few points off the so-called ‘title challengers’, instead 13 games, in and the club currently sit in 10th place, fortunately just five points off the Champions League spots.
It was supposed to be the year Leicester took that one step further after their tremendous FA Cup success in May, the year they banked on actually breaking into the top four and finally achieving a Champions League spot after just missing out the previous two campaigns, but so far they’ve given themselves a mountain to climb.
After three league games without a win, a win over former boss Claudio Ranieri and his Watford side was paramount, and there are no prizes for guessing who stepped up when the club needed him most. Nope, it wasn’t Jamie Vardy who returned to goalscoring form, but another one of Brendan Rodgers’ go-to men; James Maddison.
A goal and two assists Maddison recorded as Leicester City triumphed 4-2 at the King Power. Just a few days earlier, the former Norwich City man hit the same goal involvements in the Europa League as the Foxes eased to a 3-1 win over Legia Warsaw.
Maddison’s return to form has been welcome and timely for the club, Brendan Rodgers and Jamie Vardy even – but most of all, for Maddison on a personal level. The 25-year-old has found his swagger and spark at just the right time for Leicester as Youri Tielemans’ absence with injury has left Rodgers without a reliable ball-player and creative outlet in the middle of the park.
Wilfred Ndidi and Boubakary Soumaré are solid enforcers in front of the back four, but you could argue neither of them possess the ability to dissect stout defences with that telling pass. James Maddison is of course Leicester’s most decisive outlet when performing those cutting edge final third passes.
It’s been a frustrating start to the campaign for Maddison, especially when his England counterparts Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Mason Mount were firing on all cylinders for club and country. A campaign that has almost mirrored Leicester City’s own inconsistent displays, becoming symbiotic. It’s clear that when Maddison is a his masterful best, the whole team follows suit.
The thing is, Maddison hasn’t been at his best often enough.
The key for Maddison is to be a workhorse and a show pony. When he has been below his best, as shown in a couple instances so far this season, games have passed him by. He has been the passenger instead of the driving force Rodgers knows that he can be.
Life has dramatically changed off the field following the birth of his first child and he’s also had to contend with the unsettling nature of the speculation linking him to Arsenal. It’s understandable, but those are the kind of off-field situations that footballers have to navigate their way through, especially the elite level performers, and Maddison is no different.
After his performance against Legia Warsaw, the midfielder was asked if he had a point to prove. Maddison had started only five of the previous 13 games in which he had been included in the squad, suggesting Rodgers felt Maddison did need to prove that he had what it takes — to show that he wasn’t above being left out of the side, that his talent needed to be backed up with consistent displays. It has been a gentle kick up the backside.
However, during an important week in Leicester’s season, it finally looks as if Maddison taken heed of Rodgers’ demands and is back to his mercurial best.
“I think we always have a point to prove every single day,” Rodgers says. “For him, it was about looking at his game. He knows this is a level where you are always looking to prove yourself, always. He can never be calm with that. You always have to be intense. You have to work and when you are not working so well you have to keep focused and working hard.
“I think you can see, and not just in James, the confidence is returning. The level of the game, the movement is back and we look a real threat. But also working hard.”
What has been evidently clear of James Maddison under Brendan Rodgers, is his influence and decisiveness in much of Leicester’s attacking play. A conductor and an orchestrator in such a well-rounded unit. Whether playing in the most advanced position of a midfield three, or as a more deep-lying playmaker, or tucked in off the left-wing or in his more natural role directly behind Jamie Vardy, he is the man to set and maintain the tempo of their attacking moves.
When Maddison is in the mood, he is indeed unstoppable and that was perfectly proved against Watford. The 25-year-old provided his team with the ingredients to overcome a difficult task. Firstly, taking his goal expertly, but it wasn’t just down to him putting the ball in the back of the net, it was the unique nous and anticipation to run beyond Jamie Vardy and capitalize on any potential mistakes and that’s exactly what he did.
It’s the role of an attacking midfielder to roam beyond the striker and score goals as well as create them, and Maddison has excelled at that trait over the past year, something Rodgers instructed him to do more to get goals and assists, but unfortunately not doing it consistently enough.
The assist for Jamie Vardy’s first goal was absolutely delicious, a delicately weighted chip into the Vardy’s path on the angle, and the veteran striker put the gloss over a superb pass that only few players in the Premier League could replicate.
His heatmap above above may not seem the most productive, however, it shows the areas on the pitch in which he proved very decisive in Leicester’s attacking play, within that left half-space, an area where he can effectively roam inside and produce his dazzling creative abilities. Maddison is evidently on the ball less – only recording 53 touches against Watford – but when he is in possession of it, he is devastatingly effective, completing 100% of his dribbles, performing 3 accurate crosses – including another assist for Jamie Vardy’s second from a corner – seven chances created and 5 key passes.
If Leicester are to improve on their inconsistencies so far this season, James Maddison will once again prove central to their hopes. Getting Youri Tielemans back fit and firing can only aid their cause too.
Nevertheless, James Maddison is capable of the extraordinary, whether its the eye of the needle pass, the sumptuous first touch and the ability to locate areas in the final third in order to hurt the opposition, that’s what his game is built on.
It is now 7 goals + assists now in his last five starts in all competitions for Leicester City. The swagger and spark in his game has certainly returned, but in order for Maddison to reach those lofty heights, it needs to be combined with tenacity, a ruthless edge and a consistency that is so far unreachable in his game.
The 25-year-old is an elusive creative weapon for Brendan Rodgers, but maybe the reason Leicester haven’t taken that next level is because Maddison hasn’t yet expressed his extraordinary abilities over a prolonged period of time throughout a campaign. At such a crucial stage in Leicester City’s season, it certainly isn’t too late for him to start performing consistently right now.
The ball is in his court.
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