It’s only taken three-and-a-half years but Tottenham Hotspur finally look to have secured a Christian Eriksen replacement with James Maddison edging closer to a £40m move from Leicester City.
Mauricio Pochettino famously described Eriksen as “the brain” of his Spurs side that launched two Premier League title challenges and reached a Champions League final. At long last, Spurs have a new visionary with Maddison set to become the cognitive conductor of Ange Postecoglou’s new-look team.
While goalscoring wasn’t a major issue for Spurs last season – they managed 70 in the league, a total bettered by only four clubs – they have badly missed a player of Eriksen’s guile, class and craft ever since the Dane moved to Inter Milan in January 2020. They have effectively played without a typical playmaker in the post-Eriksen era. From central midfield, at least.
Harry Kane morphed into a “nine-and-a-half” during Jose Mourinho‘s spell in charge, becoming renowned as much for his creative qualities as his goalscoring prowess: Kane topped the Premier League’s assist charts in 2020-21 with 14 (while also scoring 23 times).
The England skipper remained Spurs’ most consistent creator under Antonio Conte, leading their assists charts again with nine in 2021-22. But in the Italian’s rigid 3-4-3 system, there was a greater onus on the wing-backs to supply ammunition, with Ivan Perisic supplanting Kane as their leading assist provider last season with eight.
But Spurs have had a distinct lack of inventiveness from central midfield for some time, with ball-winners and box-to-box runners preferred to ball-players in the team’s engine room. That much is evident when you look at who their most creative midfielders have been over the past three seasons: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (four assists in 2020-21); Rodrigo Bentancur (four in 2021-22); and Hojbjerg again (five in 2022-23).
Maddison, in comparison, registered five, eight, and nine assists in that period. Going further back in time, Maddison created more chances than any other player in the 2018-19 season.
It is clear to see why Spurs fans, who have grown increasingly frustrated by the team’s lack of bravery and ambition in possession, are so excited by Maddison’s arrival; he is purposeful, positive and an antidote to the anti-football that has been served up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Shot-creating actions measure how often a pass, take-on (dribble) or foul won leads to a shot on goal. Last season’s top five players in that metric were: Bruno Fernandes, Kieran Trippier, Kevin De Bruyne, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka. Maddison was joint-ninth on the list despite playing for a team that finished 18th.
The 26-year-old was used in a variety of roles for Leicester, including on both flanks, but the most natural position for him in Postecoglou’s favoured 4-3-3 formation is as one of the two “free eights” in central midfield, a term that grew in prominence when Pep Guardiola utilised De Bruyne and David Silva in tandem for Manchester City.
At Celtic, Postecoglou deployed a ball-playing sitter at the base of a three-man midfield, with the players either side – Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley – granted extra license to get forward. It worked well, with Hatate registering 14 goal contributions (six goals, eight assists) and O’Riley 15 (three goals, 12 assists) as Celtic stormed to the Scottish Premiership title.
They were also effective out of possession as well, both winning plenty of tackles high up the pitch to enable Celtic to transition quickly from defence to attack. Maddison has that combative side to his game too, making 51 tackles and earning 10 yellow cards last term.
There will be occasions when the versatile Maddison is required elsewhere. Maddison started on the right wing in just under half of his 30 league appearances last season, tucking infield rather than hugging the touchline.
That could become his secondary role at Spurs, particularly if Pedro Porro establishes himself as Postecoglou’s first-choice right-back. The Spain international struggled defensively but demonstrated his attacking qualities by registering three goals and three assists in 15 matches after signing from Sporting Lisbon in January.
Where Kane ends up next season may have a bearing on Maddison’s role too. i understands that Bayern Munich will return with an improved offer for the England captain after having an initial £60m plus add-ons bid rejected out of hand by Daniel Levy.
Spurs will hope that Kane stays and forms a productive partnership with Maddison at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next season, but if he does go it could result in a rejigging of the attack.
Son Heung-min and Richarlison are both accustomed to playing through the middle, which could lead to Maddison moving out to the left, where he was used plenty by Leicester and more recently for England.
Regardless of where Maddison plays, it is a statement signing for Spurs coming swiftly after their worst league finish in 14 years. And significantly it hints that the club is finally looking to recapture its lost “DNA”, two years on from Levy’s infamous promise that Spurs would play “free-flowing, attacking and entertaining” football.
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