Get Carter’s smile beams wide as he welcomes the next Leicester City player into his review meetings, a player that has had an extraordinary turnaround but one who might still need an arm around his shoulder.
James Maddison of Leicester City
Appearances: 51 / Premier League 35 / Europe 12 / FA CUP 2 / EFL CUP 2 /
Goals: 18 / Premier League 12 / Europe 4 / FA CUP 1 / EFL CUP 1 /
Moment to savour: A crucial equaliser buried at PSV Eindhoven
Moment to forget: The England snub
"“He [Maddison] has finished the season very well. He is obviously scoring goals but we just feel we are very happy with the players that have been with us,” Gareth Southgate – May 2022"
If you can remember as far back as the start of the season, you’ll remember ‘JM10’ was a player who was struggling to find confidence. His touches weren’t slick, his passes were mistimed and he carried little threat in front of goal. He struggled to complete 90 minutes of football and was subbed at halftime at Brighton & Hove Albion. Following this, he then had to be content with games on the bench with some honest words from Brendan Rodgers ringing in his ears.
Rodgers eventually restored the playmaker back to the starting eleven against Manchester United in a thrilling encounter with a scintillating display. His swagger returned again the following week when he notched his first goal in eight months and rubbed it in the Brentford fan’s faces.
From there on in Maddison notched more and more impressive displays and superb goals. A trademark twisty turn and top corner finish against Legia Warsaw set the tone. As did yet another bullying show against Watford (who he would go on to score three and assist four against over the season). His impressive games continued against Southampton, Newcastle and Liverpool twice around Christmas.
Goals flowed throughout the season in different competitions, with the only real quiet patch when Rodgers took ‘Madders’ out of the team around February and March to seemingly manage a flare-up of a previous injury. But when he returned his creative spark and energy returned with abundance.
With assists and goals flowing, his creative spark was igniting every game with a wide range of passes in tight areas and neat dribbling skills. Maddison finished the season scoring in each of the last four games with some stunning strikes whilst making three assists. In total, he scored 18 goals and assisted 12 in all competitions. He hit the woodwork three times with two outstanding saves from Ederson and Aaron Ramsdale stopping him from notching 20 goals.
Maddison attempted the most Premier League shots of all the Leicester City players with 72 and notched his best-ever shooting accuracy with 47% of shots on target. He managed more through balls and accurate long balls than both Phil Foden and Mason Mount. He also missed fewer big chances than both of them.
With regard to defensively work rate for his team, Maddison has excelled to new heights, and his fitness and strength is at high levels. He has also had to put up with some truly shocking refereeing when he has to be smashed to the ground several times before a referee believes the opposing player should be reprimanded. Witness a horrendous challenge by Scott McTominay only punished by a yellow card, only at Old Trafford might a home player go unpunished with such a savage challenge.
Maddison has improved in virtually every facet of his game for the majority of the season. To not get an England call-up would be acceptable if the players he was competing with had surpassed his performances and statistics, but that simply isn’t true. To not give Maddison a call-up when his form is in such a strong place sends out a terrible message not only to Maddison but to many other future England hopefuls and Leicester City stars.
Gareth Southgate’s earlier comment was dismissive of Maddison’s performances reducing them down to the end of the season as if he had only turned up for a handful of games at the end. Also mentioning only his goals ignores his overall play all over the pitch. His justification for picking other players amounts to nothing more than blind loyalty:
"“He is competing with Mason Mount and Phil Foden and these types of players in the role where he is at his best. It’s one of the positions where there is a lot of strength in depth and you may have to leave players out who may be equally as deserving.” – Southgate"
The same happened to Danny Drinkwater before Euro 2016 where he was ignored in favour of Jack Wilshere. James Maddison will most likely miss out on a place at the World Cup in 2022 unless he scores in every game and only if Mount and Foden play awfully. He was at least rightly given the City player of the season but I hope he doesn’t feel he has to go and sit in the reserves of a top six club for an England manager to acknowledge his existence. Jack Grealish is a close friend and will very likely be selling the benefits to him.
Rating: 9/10 Chances of leaving: 25%