Roy Keane, a former midfielder who is now a commentator, has expressed doubts about James Maddison’s ability to make an impact for Tottenham Hotspur, to the point where Ian Wright and Gary Neville had to step in to back the offensive midfielder.
Things have gone wrong in Ange Postecoglou’s second season as manager, and a large part of it can be attributed to their long list of injury issues, which include issues with players like Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romeo, who play central defence. Guglielmo Vicario, the goalie as well.
The 28-year-old Maddison is also now missing from the Tottenham team. After suffering a calf strain last month, he has missed Spurs’ last five games across all competitions, including Premier League and Europa League matches.
Consequently, Postecoglou has been trying to make square pegs fit round holes. It has been difficult to find a temporary replacement for Tottenham’s creator-in-chief Maddison, and the former Celtic player’s back line in particular has been completely improvised.
If Tottenham’s results don’t improve between now and the conclusion of the season, they could be in danger of being relegated. Keane believes Maddison might not be able to assist them in getting back on track.
Wright—much to the astonishment of his friend Keane—interjected to put the England international’s name into the hat while talking about which Tottenham players can actually affect the game once they return from injury.
A bewildered Keane answered: “Wait a minute. Maddison, hurry up! Maddison was pulled off when we saw him at Tamworth. Tamworth is not in the league. “Maddison is the man,” they say, but when will he take the initiative? He was demoted with Leicester, and he will soon be demoted with Spurs!
Wright, who is considered to be among the best strikers in Premier League history, and Neville immediately defended the former Leicester City player, saying that they support him and think he can help Spurs in spite of Keane’s harsh remarks.
When Maddison is not playing darts, he is not awful. You’re in cuckoo land, though, if you believe he will return and help the Spurs finish in the top six!
Wright jumped up to defend the Coventry City graduate once again, saying that whenever he is judged healthy and ready to return to the pitch, it is his responsibility to silence the naysayers, including the previously mentioned Keane.
He’s a good player, but if you were a Spurs player in the locker room when Maddison returned to the team, you wouldn’t be thinking, ‘Oh Jesus, he’s back today!'” the Irishman added. We will be all right! He can’t even make the 300-man England squad! Don’t fool yourself, everyone.
“You’re in cuckoo land!” 😵💫 😂
Big words from Roy! Over to you, James Maddison… 💪 pic.twitter.com/XltI6tlskV
— The Overlap (@WeAreTheOverlap) February 13, 2025
Maddison, who was born in Coventry and has seven senior England caps on his resume, has had a difficult time settling in since moving to north London in the summer of 2023. Despite his 61 appearances and 28 goal involvements, he now faces the daunting challenge of propelling his team higher in the Premier League standings.
