Why Tottenham maestro Maddison is the early contender for Player of the Season
If the Premier League Player of the Season award was handed out today, there’s a strong case to be made that it belongs in the arms of James Maddison.
The 26-year-old has played a major role in transforming Tottenham Hotspur, leading them to the top of the Premier League after eight games. This, after the dumpster fire that was last season and the loss of talismanic striker Harry Kane during the summer, was not what was expected.
His average WhoScored rating of 7.76 tops everyone else, with Bukayo Saka (7.74) and Rodri (7.62) his closest competitors. He’s no stranger to a strong rating, consistently averaging above 7.00 during his time with Leicester City, but under Ange Postecoglou he’s reached another level entirely.
Two goals and five assists from eight appearances is a phenomenal return; only Mohamed Salah (9), Erling Haaland (9) and Ollie Watkins (8) can better it in terms of goal involvements this season, but not even Salah can match Maddison for sheer creativity.
The Englishman has steamed out ahead in the “shot-creating actions” stakes - any pass, dribble or move that results in a shot - racking up 65 already. His closest competitor? Bruno Fernandes, lagging back on 41, with Dominik Szoboszlai (40) rounding out the top three. The nearest Spurs player is Dejan Kulusevski (37).
Those are some big names... and he’s left them in his dust.
Set pieces underpin his threat - 11 of those shot-creating actions have come from set piece situations - but that doesn’t warp the conversation, as he’s created a league-leading 40 shots from open play; so, Szoboszlai’s entire combined total. Be it from a dead ball or in free-flowing play, Maddison’s been a menace.
With freedom granted to move across the pitch and search for the weakness in opposing teams, he’s popping up in all sorts of different places, doing his damage from a variety of zones. Opponents can’t live with that, evidenced by the fact he’s being fouled more than ever before - an average of 2.9 times per game. Doing that is a mistake, as it just allows him to pick himself up and aim a potentially deadly dead ball into the box.
Teams that sit deep are allowing him the time, touches and possession to find a way to crack their defences open. Teams that push high witness him not only drop deep to help play through their pressing, but then slice them open on the turn. He’s played the third-most through balls (7) in the league so far, with his primary target the lightning-fast Heung-Min Son.
It’s always important not to be duped by early season form, but this hardly feels like a flash-in-the-pan from Maddison, who has come close to hitting double figures for both goals and assists in two past seasons for Leicester. He is, and always has been, a thoroughly productive midfielder - and now he’s playing for the best team he’s ever been a part of at club level.
Perhaps it’s Spurs’ early season form we must strive not to be duped by, as Maddison’s streak of form is partially a product of his environment; his sheer creative dominance, even in comparison to established heavy-hitters like Bruno and Salah, is presumably linked to Spurs’ excellence, along with obvious factors like fitness.
How long Big Ange’s Spurs perform at a league-leading level - they’re collecting 2.5 points per game - may be the determining factor as to how long he can outpace the others to this degree. What’s clear, though, is that Maddison will be one of the Premier League’s star creative forces all season long. Amazing, isn’t it, how a fresh move and a hot start can redefine a footballer we’ve all been watching for more than half a decade?
