Leicester City’s James Maddison looks to be rejuvenated as a player after months of reflecting on past performances. Here is how he is getting back to best.
Since February of this year – last season – Maddison has not scored a goal, and has struggled to impact matches at all levels and in all competitions. Something was going very wrong for the player pitted against Jack Grealish long ago.
Let us explore what had happened to the Foxes star midfielder, and how he has now managed to turn this around.
Leicester City’s former playmaker
The England international’s last goal before this month came against a downbeat Aston Villa on 21/02/21. Since that point, the player has been inconsistent.
After his return from injury in the 20/21 season, Madders never found his form which saw him constantly chip in with goals and assist his teammates with wonderful passes. This is not to say his passing has been bad, but he just has not looked the same.
In big matches Maddison would turn up and look impressive for short stints as his injury created a persistent and annoying problem: aches and pains in his hip and lower back. For Brendan Rodgers, the choice was clear: protect the England international from worse injuries by playing him less.
Madders had lost more than just form though. To be blunt, his pressing was less aggressive and more conservative, his play when on the ball was cautious (likely due to his injury), his off the ball movement became less impactful, and he had lost the incisive pass he once showed to regularly.
So, the No.10 was inconsistent, his playing time fell off, he was not scoring or collecting many assists, and the media had all but forgotten his former form. Downbeat and in-need of inspiration, Madders would go on a journey of reflection to get back to his best.
Leicester City’s playmaker returns
As per BBC Sport, the attacking midfielder has commented on what has allowed him to regain his confidence and get back involved with a competitive King Power side.
"“I have had to be my own biggest critic and look at where I was maybe going wrong”"
Our 24-year-old player has been looking back at videos of his former form with sports scientists, analysing and picking apart his performances to try and rekindle what was lost. Most importantly, he had to find where his off the ball movement had gone downhill.
For a player who wants to score goals and get involved in final third play, the crucial spaces are those on the edge of the box and within the half-spaces: finding space somewhere within those areas allows technical players and long-shot specialists like Youri Tielemans to impact the game with goals and assists.
Leicester’s creative spark was no longer finding space in these areas. Opposition teams were pressing him, and he was too conservative to create that space himself or even call for the pass and make a turn anyway.
"“After the Brighton game I assessed how I was doing at the time. I realised I was low on confidence, so we went back to what made me the player I am”"
Rodgers worked hard with Madders in training to help him recover that space creation and exploitation which was working for him so well. With that, his confidence could start to return as he impacts games. This month has been a wild turnaround for the England international.
Against Spartak Moscow, Maddison ran the show. As the Foxes struggled defensively, their creative players and attacking intent were threatening. Tielemans and Maddison returned to their previous link up last seen in the 19/20 season, where the Starman was box-to-box and Madders was the creative link up between midfield and the attacking third.
The midfielder got one of Patson Daka‘s assists. Then, he would go on to score a tap-in assisted by Daka in the following match against Brentford.
This has everything to do with his creation and exploitation of space for himself with off the ball movement, and much more incisive and technical passing to dangerous players like the Belgian internationals or the Zambian forward.
If he continues to be the Fox in the half-spaces, then he will return to what we once knew and become ‘undroppable’ once again.