Giovani Lo Celso must be handed Tottenham lifeline in James Maddison’s injury absence
James Maddison will be sorely missed at Tottenham until his return in 2024 but Ange Postecoglou may already have the ideal solution right under his nose in Giovani Lo Celso.
The former Leicester City star picked up an ankle injury in the first half of their 4-1 loss against Chelsea on 6 November at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Postecoglou confirmed that the attacking midfielder will be out of action until the new year after Daily Mail journalist Sami Mokbel reported that Spurs are fearing the ankle injury is worse than first expected with growing concerns over a long lay-off.
Maddison confirmed those fears, on his Twitter account on 11 November sharing that he will be away from the pitch until the new year which comes as a damaging blow to Tottenham’s remarkable progress under Ange Postecoglou.
Such an injury will be an almighty blow to any Premier League side, but Postecoglou will be feeling hard done by given the tremendous influence Maddison has already on his team since his summer move.
The 26-year-old already has eight goal contributions to his name in North London (three goals and five assists) but those numbers barely tell the whole story as to how he’s completely transformed Spurs’ attacking game.
Because of Maddison, Postecoglou’s men look a world apart from the side which proved attack-shy during the latter part of Antonio Conte’s reign.
The Englishman ranks first for key passes (31) at the club and first for assists (5) but is also amongst the best in the Premier League and in Europe so far this campaign when it comes to his final third influence.
As per FBRef, Maddison ranks third in the Premier League and in Europe’s top-five leagues for key passes (31), second in the Premier League for passes into the penalty area (32), second in the Premier League for progressive passes (97), fifth for through balls (8) and first for shot-creating actions (80).
He also ranks first in Europe’s top five leagues for shot-creating actions. Everyone knew of the England international’s qualities from his time at Leicester City but it seems as if Postecoglou has driven those qualities to new heights after just 11 games in a Tottenham shirt.
The question now is, how Postecoglou will look to replace Maddison’s creative ingenuity and influence and his absence was clear for all to see in their 2-1 loss at Wolves last weekend (11 November).
After their opener, Spurs did not have a shot on target until the closing minutes of the match from substitute Lo Celso.
The 27-year-old maestro has been something of a forgotten man at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium this past year and could well have exited North London this summer to rejoin Real Betis on a permanent basis.
However, a few months on and Spurs could well be looking at Lo Celso’s reincarnation as a Tottenham player with Maddison out injured.
And the Argentinian’s brief cameos in the Premier League so far may not be deemed enough to hand him the starts he craves but the former Betis man still, according to the stats, ranks just as good as Maddison does in terms of his creative class.
According to stats provided by FBRef, Lo Celso ranks in the top 94th percentile of his midfield peers across the top five European leagues for both progressive passes, 79th percentile for progressive carries made per 90 minutes over the past 365 days, the top 86th for successful take-ons and top 89th for touches taken in the attacking penalty area.
He is not shot-shy either, with Lo Celso in the top 98 percentile among midfielders for shots taken in total per 90 mins, and top 78 for goals per 90 mins. Again, it is his creative class that stands him out and a characteristic that Postecoglou must take into consideration when trying to engineer a way through Maddison’s absence.
Last season, Lo Celso ranked in the 99th percentile of his positional peers for key passes per 90, 98th percentile for shot-creating actions and 99th percentile for passes into the penalty area.
For Tottenham to replace Maddison’s threat for the time being, they’ll need a player well-versed in the art of locating spaces in between the opposition’s midfield and defence as well as he does, as seen below:
Lo Celso is a player of similar abilities to Maddison, not just in the way he creates for teammates but also in his understanding of space and where to position himself in the final third, in between the lines.
His cameo against Wolves before the international is only a small sample size for his performances this season, but there are instances where he fulfilled those duties, as shown in the image below:
The former Betis man may not have received the ball in this instance but again, Postecoglou should take note of his understanding of being in the half-space, ready to receive a progressive pass and work his magic in the final third.
In fact, Lo Celso ranked in the 81st percentile for progressive passes received in La Liga last season. James Maddison despite all his immeasurable qualities in the final third, ranked low for that metric – in the bottom 27 percentile of attacking midfielders [FBRef].
However, that owes to the fact that Maddison fulfilled a number of positions for Brendan Rodgers at Leicester so such a statistic must be taken with a pinch of salt. But, it still shows the qualities Lo Celso possesses in picking up positions where he feels he can hurt the opposition.
Off the ball, Lo Celso fits the mould Postecoglou wants when pressing and harrying defenders to win the ball back for his team. The Argentinian ranked in the 98th percentile of midfielders for tackles won and 99th percentile for tackles won in the attacking third [FBRef] and he showcased those characteristics against Wolves, as seen below.
Again, his cameo against Wolves is too small a sample size to gain a definitive perspective on Lo Celso’s influence and impact but it does show what he can do when given the opportunity.
Postecoglou likes his midfielders to press hard and press high, while being comfortable in possession and having a keen eye for a pass, and constantly being on the move and after Maddison, there is arguably no better outlet in providing that than the Argentinian.
Just as shown above Lo Celso could well be the perfect solution in Maddison’s absence at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the question is whether Postecoglou trusts him to fulfil the role. The stats prove he can.
In other Tottenham news, an update has been provided on injured defender Micky van de Ven as he steps up his recovery.