Paul O Keefe details Tottenham fitness boost as James Maddison recovery ‘stepped up’
Tottenham will be desperate to get star player James Maddison back fit and firing as soon as possible, and football agent Paul O Keefe has revealed that the midfielder is on the right path to a full recovery.
It is fair to say that Spurs have had hard luck in recent weeks with the injuries they have suffered, which has given Ange Postecoglou plenty of selection headaches, but perhaps none have been more damaging than the loss of Maddison.
Having arrived from Leicester City during the summer transfer window in a deal worth £40million (Sky Sports News, 29 June), the England international took to life in north London like a duck to water.
He scored three goals and provided five assists in his first 11 league games in a Tottenham shirt, contributions which helped propel Postecoglou’s team to the top of the table.
His overall play was impressive, and he looked to be the creative key that had been missing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since the days of Christian Eriksen. However, during the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea on 6 November, disaster struck as the 26-year-old was forced off with an injury in the first half.
It didn’t appear to be anything serious at first, with supporters hopeful he would be back in no time after he was initially able to play on before leaving the pitch on his own two feet, but in the end, it proved to be a setback which has kept the star player sidelined for a considerable period.
Spurs’ form has dropped off in Maddison’s absence, and despite results improving in recent weeks, the club will be desperate to see him back on the pitch as soon as possible, with reliable Tottenham insider O Keefe, who is also an FA-registered agent, revealing via his official X platform (19 December) that his recovery has been “stepped up.”
This comes as a huge boost for Spurs and Postecoglou, with Maddison’s stats proving that he has been one of the best-performing players in the Premier League this season.
As per fbref, the Englishman ranks in the top one per cent of his positional peers in England’s top flight this season regarding the number of shots he has had on target (1.53 per 90), the number of progressive passes (9.91 per 90), key passes (3.17 per 90) and passes into the penalty area (3.27 per 90) he has made, as well as a range of other statistics.
Maddison also ranks in the top five per cent of Premier League midfielders in other areas such as his progressive passing distance (257.4 yards per 90), the number of passes into the final third he has played (5.11 per 90), his total assists (0.51 per 90) and his total carries (46.69 per 90).
He is the ideal Postecoglou midfielder and is central to keeping Tottenham ticking, and the sooner he returns to action, the better.
Maddison’s performance in the 2-0 home win against Fulham on Monday 23 October demonstrated how crucial he is to the way Spurs play.
As the ball was played from midfield towards Son Heung-min, Maddison was alert to the situation and made a darting run toward the box before Son had even gained possession of the ball.
This created an overload for Spurs in the penalty area, which Son exploited by picking out his teammate who finished well into the bottom right-hand corner.
It is this movement off the ball and awareness in and around the penalty area which Tottenham have been missing in Maddison’s absence, with the likes of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oliver Skipp and Giovani Lo Celso not possessing that same level of understanding.
Maddison demonstrated his brilliant quality once again in the 2-1 home win against Liverpool on Saturday 30 September. This time it was his brilliant passing range which was on display.
Having received the ball in the middle of the pitch from Destiny Udogie, Spurs’ creative spark got his head up and spotted the run of Richarlison out wide.
His defence-splitting pass took four Liverpool players out of the game and allowed Richarlison to square the ball for Son to tap in and give the hosts the lead.
While he won’t be credited with the goal or assist, Maddison’s pre-assist was arguably the most important and impressive aspect of this goal and is yet another quality which Spurs have been missing, with none of the other midfielders at the club possessing the ability to pick out this type of pass consistently.
As per stats provided by Whoscored, Maddison ranks top among his Tottenham teammates for the number of key passes he has played this season (2.80 per 90), with Manor Solomon the next closest (2.40 per 90).
It is that passing and goalscoring ability from midfield that Tottenham have lacked in Maddison’s absence, and fans can certainly expect to see their performance levels crank up a notch when the star player returns to the fold.
In other Tottenham news, a doctor has revealed that another injured Spurs star could be set to return sooner rather than later after a training update.