Maddison reveals what it’s like being at World Cup but not playing

Leicester City and England’s James Maddison has revealed how it feels being at the World Cup but not playing.

So many young footballers are making a name for themselves on the biggest stage at present. That’s if those rising stars’ standing wasn’t already first class. One man who already has world-class status, international recognition – well, he was capped once three years ago – and adoring fans around the globe, is Maddison.

Sadly, the midfielder hasn’t played a single minute for England at the competition. Even when the perfect opportunities arose for the thrilling player to feature, impact games and stake his claim by helping his national team, he was nowhere to be seen. A byproduct of this hypothetical but desired scenario would have been Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate redeeming himself after omitting and disregarding the sheer class of the Leicester City man.

To be fair to Southgate, he has a plethora of great athletes and lots of forward-thinking midfielders and wingers supporting Harry Kane – Maddison’s general positions. The Fox was also injured and unavailable for the Iran and United States fixtures. Yet ‘Madders’ could have feasibly come on as a substitute versus Wales or Senegal when either match was at 3-0. Other less deserving wingmen and forwards appear more in favour with the gaffer, as we suspected.

Imagine if the former Coventry City and Norwich City maestro was getting his deserved minutes for England. A sight to behold in the greatest tournament, surely!? The 26-year-old has now opened up on the situation in typically entertaining fashion:

"“Involvement doesn’t always mean minutes on the pitch and that’s something that I’ve probably learned in the last few weeks of being out here,” Maddison told talkSPORT on Monday. “Of course, every player wants to play and I’m no different, I’m desperate to get out there and show what I can do but it’s one of them.“I’m feeling good. The injury is gone, I’m feeling 100 per cent. I’ve been training for a while now and have been available for the last couple of games and so it’s just about being patient, staying ready, which I am, working hard and trying to be an option for the manager.”Mirror"

Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers wants team reconnected before Premier League restart

At the moment, the Leicester squad are in Abu Dhabi for warm weather training. Now, this may sound like a luxury holiday but, as with other English top-flight sides, the Foxes are apparently being put through their paces. This intensity will hopefully increase the team’s collective sharpness upon the EPL restart, with a challenging upcoming winter schedule on the horizon.

Rodgers usually gives media a good taste of his management jargon in true David Brent style. On the other hand, the Northern Irishman, unlike the fictional character from The Office, does have a point now and again. Here’s what Rodgers said on the practice sessions:

"“In terms of coming to here, the objective was really to re-introduce all of our principles again. “The players have had a little bit of time with their families, so it was a great opportunity to get together and re-enforce a lot of our football philosophy.“It’s also important for the players to reconnect again, socially, so you spend a lot of time with each other.”There is more at lcfc.com"