James Maddison's Impact on Spurs' Stagnation

James Maddison has already lived one footballing lifetime in the last couple of years.

The former Leicester playmaker spent 375 days watching from the sidelines after major knee surgery, only returning in May 2026 to help Roberto De Zerbi drag Tottenham clear of danger and keep their Premier League status intact. It was a long road back, but he made it in time to steady a listing ship.

Now Spurs are stuck again. This time, the problem isn’t survival. It’s stagnation.

Four league games. Four goalless draws. Just two points and a rising sense of unease around north London. Big money has gone out of the club, big names have come in, yet the scoreboard refuses to budge.

De Zerbi has been careful with his most gifted creator. Maddison, now 29, has been eased back in, stepping off the bench in two of those four league fixtures and in the Carabao Cup defeat at Liverpool. A minor shoulder knock has only added to the caution, with Spurs reluctant to gamble after what he’s already been through.

But patience has a limit. So does a fanbase’s tolerance for 0-0s.

Spurs’ summer was bold. Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes arrived to reshape the midfield, both technically sharp, both comfortable running the game from the centre. On paper, it looks impressive. On grass, it has looked a little too similar. Control, yes. Spark, not enough.

That missing ingredient is exactly what Maddison offers. He sees passes others don’t. He thrives in tight spaces, happy to try the risky ball that might unlock a packed defence. Give him a dead ball and the mood in the stadium changes. Corners, free-kicks, that 25-yard range – he can turn a drab afternoon with one clean strike.

De Zerbi knows all this. So do the supporters. The question is no longer whether Maddison makes Spurs better. It’s how long the manager can justify holding him back.

For Danny Murphy, the answer is simple: not long at all.

Speaking to GOAL, the ex-Tottenham midfielder didn’t hesitate when asked if Maddison could solve at least part of Spurs’ attacking problem. “I've been a big fan of James Maddison for a long, long time because I like players who take risks and have an arrogance about them on the pitch. And Tottenham are crying out for creativity and they’ve missed him terribly when he's been injured,” he said.

Murphy looked at the recruitment and saw plenty of quality, but no like-for-like replacement. “Now, when you look at who they brought in, none of them really, you would say, have the same attributes as Maddison. So, he's still quite unique in that squad.”

There have been flickers of life. “When you look at their first four games, although [Omar] Marmoush and Savio have looked lively in the last couple, I know they haven't scored, but they do look like good additions,” Murphy added. The movement is there. The finishing might come. But right now, they’re running on scraps.

“They do need someone to feed them.”

The dilemma for any manager is obvious: how hard do you push a player who has been out for so long? How quickly do you lean on him again?

Murphy understands the doubt but refuses to hide behind it. “The problem is when someone’s been out for a long time, it's hard to know his levels of fitness and stuff. I don't know. I'm not seeing him train, De Zerbi is. But would I be putting Maddison in at the moment when you need some of that? A hundred percent.”

For him, this is not just about tactics. It’s about personality. Spurs lack a certain defiance in the final third, a willingness to accept the groans when a risky pass doesn’t come off, and then to try it again anyway.

“And I think Tottenham fans are crying out for him because he is one player - [Mohammed] Kudus is another, but in a different way, because he does it from a wider area - Maddison has the vision and he has the courage to risk the ball and take the groans and the moans and the disappointment of failing,” Murphy said.

Set pieces only strengthen the case. “He's great on set plays as well. He scores goals himself.”

That, in the end, is the crux. Spurs have invested heavily in structure, in control, in athleticism. But their most creative presence is already in the building, already back from his long exile, already waiting for the nod.

“I'd be really surprised if we didn't see Maddison soon in the starting line-up,” Murphy concluded, “because for me, he's still their most creative presence.”

De Zerbi has tightened the leaks. Now he needs someone to turn the tap on at the other end. How much longer can he leave his most natural game-changer on the bench?