James Maddison may never live his England dream - it's all a matter of timing... (2024)

When he turns 29, one of the best Premier League playmakers of recent times will still never have kicked a ball at a major international tournament.

At the age of 24, James Maddison was overlooked for a place in England’s squad for the delayed Euro 2020. At 26 he travelled to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar but did not make it off the bench. This summer, at 27, he has been cut from Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad for Euro 2024 just days before the tournament begins.

Taking a step back and looking at the numbers, it is not an easy decision to understand. Since Maddison’s Premier League debut in August 2018, no English player has provided more assists than his tally of 41. In the same timeframe, only Harry Kane (137), Raheem Sterling (104), Jamie Vardy (98), Marcus Rashford (97) and Callum Wilson (90) have notched more direct goal contributions (goals and assists combined) than Maddison’s 88. He is a natural creator, blessed with great vision and impressive set-piece delivery.

He racked up nine assists last season and created 67 chances. Those numbers might not sound too impressive but he only played 2,152 minutes — substantially fewer than his peers at the top of the rankings. By comparison, Cole Palmer had 11 assists and created 72 chances across 2,624 minutes for Manchester City and Chelsea.

Devastated doesn’t quite cut it. Trained well and worked hard all week but if I’m honest with myself, my form for Spurs when coming back from injury in the second half of the season probably wasn’t at the levels I had set which gave Gareth a decision to make. I still thought… pic.twitter.com/LwhIhCPDxS

— James Maddison (@Madders10) June 6, 2024

Maddison has been an integral cog for Ange Postecoglou’s new-look Tottenham Hotspur, but it has not been enough. Southgate said this week that he was “spinning a lot of plates” with his squad selection issues and Maddison’s has smashed on the floor.

This scenario would have been unthinkable in the early months of the season. Following his £40million ($51m) move from Leicester City, Maddison boldly took up the No 10 shirt at Spurs that Kane had vacated when he joined Bayern Munich. After scoring three goals and providing five assists in his first nine league appearances — including two assists for Son Heung-min in September’s north London derby draw at Arsenal — nobody questioned Maddison’s status. He relished the responsibility of conducting Spurs’ attacks, as his new team soared to the top of the Premier League.

The turning point in Maddison’s season came when he suffered an ankle injury in a 4-1 defeat to Chelsea in November. Maddison missed two and a half months, and struggled to quickly rediscover the same rhythm when he returned. He only scored once in the final 17 matches of the season, although he did record four assists.

There were multiple occasions, including the 1-1 draw with West Ham United and the 3-2 defeat to Arsenal, when Spurs needed inspiration but Postecoglou still decided to substitute his most creative player. Maddison finished with four goals, his lowest total in a Premier League season. Maybe his off-colour performances would not have been so obvious if Tottenham had kept winning, but their results were inconsistent, shining an intense light on his form.

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The issue for Maddison is that his international rivals for an attacking midfield role have all had excellent campaigns. Palmer won the European Under-21 Championship with England 12 months ago and his progress has continued to accelerate. He was directly involved in more goals (33) than any other player in the Premier League and almost single-handedly dragged a dysfunctional Chelsea side into sixth place.

Foden won multiple individual accolades, including Premier League Player of the Season, for his contributions to Manchester City’s title win. Eberechi Eze burst into life following Oliver Glasner’s appointment as Crystal Palace’s head coach and helped them win six of their final seven games, chipping in with five goals and two assists during that run.

If Maddison was not going to start games, then Southgate’s rationale might be that Eze and Palmer are better options from the bench. Eze is a more dynamic dribbler who could cause havoc for tired legs in tense knockout games, while it is impossible to leave Palmer out on his form of recent months.

Maddison’s dip in form came at the worst possible time, yet the 27-year-old is still entitled to feel unlucky.

There are other players, including Ivan Toney, who have endured difficult campaigns but managed to sneak in. Toney scored four times in his first five games after returning in January from an eight-month ban for breaching the Football Association’s betting rules, but his performances have been underwhelming since. His last goal for Brentford came in February, although he did convert a penalty and showed flashes of brilliance in England’s 2-2 draw with Belgium a month later.

Other attacking options, including Anthony Gordon, have had injury concerns but still been selected.

Since Maddison made his debut for England in a 7-0 victory over Montenegro in November 2019, he has only picked up six more caps. It is a surprisingly low figure for an individual who has maintained high standards throughout his club career.

Maybe Maddison’s biggest problem is that he is caught up in a generation in which England have an abundance of attacking talent to choose from. He was the type of player sorely lacking from England’s squads at the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Euros — but his skill set could have come in handy at this tournament too. His ability to split defences with passes would have been valuable in tight games against opponents who prefer to sit behind the ball.

Maddison can take some comfort from the knowledge he is not the only high-profile player to miss out. Harry Maguire, who has been the lynchpin of England’s defence over the last six years, will not be risked due to a niggling calf injury. Jack Grealish’s performances for Aston Villa had England fans demanding Southgate start him at the Euros three years ago but he has been dumped from the squad entirely. The 28-year-old has endured a difficult season at Manchester City, due to injuries and personal issues, but it is still a big call to leave him out.

“We feel other players have had stronger seasons,” Southgate said about Maddison and Grealish during his squad announcement on Thursday evening. “They have been tough calls that we have gone over and over again as a group of staff to give the right rationale.

“We back our decisions but recognise we could have gone a different route. Both boys are big characters, fabulous team-mates, great boys to work with.”

Maddison will understandably feel disappointed. Perhaps the biggest blow is that it feels like the next generation has caught up with him before he was ever given a proper chance to make his mark on the international stage.

England Euro 2024 squad in full

Goalkeepers:Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace),Jordan Pickford(Everton),Aaron Ramsdale(Arsenal).

Defenders:Lewis Dunk(Brighton),Joe Gomez(Liverpool), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace),Ezri Konsa(Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City),Kieran Trippier(Newcastle),Kyle Walker(Manchester City).

Midfielders:Trent Alexander-Arnold(Liverpool),Conor Gallagher(Chelsea),Kobbie Mainoo(Manchester United), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)Declan Rice(Arsenal).

Forwards:Jude Bellingham(Real Madrid),Jarrod Bowen(West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace),Phil Foden(Manchester City),Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Cole Palmer (Chelsea),Bukayo Saka(Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Brentford), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).

(Top photo: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Jay Harris reports on Tottenham Hotspur for The Athletic. He worked for Sky Sports News for four years before he joined The Athletic in 2021 and spent three seasons covering Brentford. He covered the 2022 World Cup from Qatar and the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast. Follow Jay on Twitter @jaydmharris