Few will have had a better 28th birthday than James Maddison enjoyed on Saturday, and at times it felt as though a celebratory party was being held at the Etihad Stadium.
Maddison’s two quick-fire goals set Tottenham Hotspur up for a famous victory away to Manchester City, and the confidence and dynamism that the attacker displayed were there to see from the first whistle until his substitution shortly before full time.
The travelling Spurs supporters gave Maddison a hearty reception as he made his way off the pitch, and one can assume that many were muttering something like: ‘I wish he could do that every week’.
Maddison’s inconsistency is nothing new. And, in truth, fits into the overall assessment of Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham team as a whole. On their day they can defeat most opponents — and quite impressively, too — but equally there are occasions when they simply don’t turn up and look a side in flux.
Spurs had won five and lost five in the Premier League before travelling to City, neatly summing up their hit-and-miss nature of late, but they left Manchester having secured the most impressive win under Postecoglou so far.
Maddison has always been a player that has relished the limelight and it was a big game away to the current champions — albeit on a four-game losing run — that again brought out his best.
His energy verged on being manic as he scurried around central midfield but he exuded calmness when converting his two goals. One was a crisp volley from Dejan Kulusevski’s delivery towards the back post and the other was a dinked finish over Ederson when Son Heung-min sent him through.
Maddison had scored only three goals and registered four assists during his 15 appearances before this weekend. The majority of those goal involvements had come before the game against West Ham United last month when he was withdrawn at half-time.
That would have been a blow to his pride and he has been in and out of the team since with Postecoglou siding in favour of other attacking options. Maddison probably would not have started against City were Rodrigo Bentancur not banned, but his impact was clear.
“He was outstanding. You have to be against City, and Madders was great,” Postecoglou said. “He’s gone through a lean spell but I never doubted his ability. I thought the kind of game we were expecting would suit him.
“I thought we’d need his ability to keep the ball in tight midfield areas. I take it personally on myself if players aren’t reaching their level, that’s on me to get him back up there. If I’m not getting the maximum out of players it is self-reflection on me to what I can do.”
Maddison didn't doubt himself during lean spell
Maddison had a long two weeks to build up to the game. He’s currently lost his place in the England squad having been included for Euro 2024, and was not called up by interim head coach Lee Carsley for the recent matches even though nine players pulled out. There was no doubt fire in his belly.
It did allow Maddison to hone in on some details with the Spurs coaches and it paid off. “He didn’t go away on international duty, the coaches worked really hard with him and I sensed he was ready for a big game,” Postecoglou added.
“It wasn’t just his goals, he was really important in the build-up and defensively worked hard. I still think he has had a decent season but we want to be more than that. He hasn’t lowered his ambition or level of the player he wants to be.”
Perhaps the time for reflection has helped Maddison, too. “I feel good, I came out of the team for a couple of games. When you come out of the team as a senior player or leader people ask questions and point fingers, but I feel good, I never doubted myself,” he said.
“I’m an attacking midfielder, I need to chip in with goals and assists but I haven’t been doing that this season.”
His goals were blows that City failed to recover from. Further strikes from Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson ensured Spurs’ second victory over City this season — having eliminated them from the Carabao Cup last month— was an emphatic one.
Kulusevski was very close to matching Maddison’s influence with his turbo drives upfield, intelligent passing and clever movement. Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma were sturdy in midfield, Dominic Solanke held the ball up well and makeshift centre-back Ben Davies also stepped up.
As ever, the question will be whether Spurs can start to put in this level of performance each week.
They have managed comfortable victories over Aston Villa, West Ham and Manchester United but fallen to Ipswich Town,, Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion. Consistency is key for both Maddison and Spurs.
