Jamie Carragher believes ‘this’ star needs to play a big role for Tottenham after Xavi Simons’ injury.
Jamie Carragher has identified James Maddison as the player most capable of providing the match-winning quality Tottenham desperately need in their final four Premier League fixtures, suggesting the returning England international may have to play a pivotal role in keeping Spurs in the top flight.
The context behind Carragher’s assessment is critical. Xavi Simons has been ruled out for the remainder of the season and the summer World Cup after suffering an injury at Wolves on Saturday, delivering a devastating blow to a club already operating with minimal creative resources.
Simons had been Tottenham’s most dangerous attacking player in recent weeks, scoring brilliantly against Brighton and consistently providing the kind of decisive moments that a relegation battle demands. His absence for the remaining fixtures against Aston Villa, Leeds, the rearranged Chelsea game, and Everton removes the one player who had genuinely been performing at the level required.
Three Tottenham attackers are sidelined with ACL injuries
Mohammed Kudus and Cristian Romero were already ruled out for the season during De Zerbi’s first month in charge, while Dejan Kulusevski has been absent for the entirety of the campaign. Three ACL injuries to players operating in similar attacking positions across the course of the season represent an almost unimaginably bad run of misfortune, and Carragher acknowledged the scale of that bad luck directly.
Carragher told Sky Sports on Monday Night Football:
“Spurs have been really unfortunate with injuries. If they didn’t have this injury record they wouldn’t be in this position. However, they have had ACL injuries to three players in the same position, Kulusevski, Maddison and now Simons. But now I feel Maddison, who is returning from injury, may have to play a role in terms of keeping Tottenham up. He is the only one I can think of in terms of doing something special. He’s got that quality I mention in terms of Jarrod Bowen and Morgan Gibbs-White.”
The comparison to Bowen and Gibbs-White is telling. Both players have been the difference-makers for their respective clubs in relegation battles, capable of producing moments of individual brilliance that change the course of matches. Carragher believes Maddison carries that same capacity, and with Tottenham two points adrift of safety with four games remaining, a fit and motivated Maddison returning from an ACL injury sustained last August could be the most significant development of their entire survival bid.