Gabriel Agbonlahor questions James Maddison after Tottenham player news
Tottenham midfielder James Maddison could be the weakest of England’s attacking options ahead of the European Championships, according to Gabriel Agbonlahor.
The TalkSPORT pundit said that the Spurs playmaker could be “in a little bit of trouble” with the depth of talent available to Gareth Southgate, and suggested that Eberechi Eze and Cole Palmer should be ahead of him in the pecking order.
Maddison has been selected in Southgate’s provisional 30-player squad ahead of the tournament, but could still be at risk of missing out on the final 26 picked to travel to Germany.
Agbonlahor reeled off a list of England’s attacking options; “Foden, Palmer, Bowen, Grealish, Rashford, Gordon, Watkins, Toney, Kane, Bellingham, Eze, Saka, Maddison. Of the talent we have got available, the only player I am worried for, at that amount of players, is Maddison.
“Eze has been outstanding, Palmer has been outstanding, and for that position, the number 10 position, will Maddison be the one that could be in a bit of trouble?”
Maddison may be at risk of missing out at Euro 2024
Tottenham underwent a clear drop-off in form without Maddison due to an ankle injury which ruled him out for almost three months of the season, but the playmaker couldn’t quite steer his new side back into the top four upon returning.
Maddison averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.59 over the course of the season, just above Eze’s score of 7.58 – which has increased almost game-by-game since Oliver Glasner’s arrival at Crystal Palace.
Both players pale in comparison to Palmer’s 7.70 SofaScore average, and while the Chelsea and Palace playmakers have both achieved 10/10 scores on the statistics site within the last few weeks alone, Maddison hasn’t managed a single score above 9.0.
The 27-year-old has netted four goals this season from an xG total of 6.43 and is underperforming in this area with a goal every 538 minutes. By comparison, Palmer netted 22 times from 18.21 xG, at a rate of 119 minutes per goal.
Maddison also has a mere seven per cent goal conversion rate, and even his nine assists from 6.27 expected assists is below the 11 (from 8.75 xA) recorded by Palmer.
Eze’s rates of crosses, long, short, and chipped passes are all superior to Maddison’s too, showing that in both the scoring and creating stakes, Maddison’s form is far from the best in a jam-packed position for England.
That could see him miss out on the final squad despite being named amongst the original 30 by Gareth Southgate, and the onus is now on Tottenham’s number 10 to impress the England manager in pre-tournament friendlies against Bosnia and Iceland.
Was Maddison lucky to be included? Time will tell.
In other Tottenham news, Daniel Levy is in line to lose millions as part of a mass clear-out at the club.
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