James Maddison has struggled to get into the England squad. Photo: Getty Images/Eddie Keogh
James Maddison was only eight years old. he was already old when Paul Gascoigne retired, but knew a lot about him from homemade montages that his father Gary edited for his son's consumption. He attended Coventry City Academy but watching Gazza gave him the feeling that football was a theater where great showmen could perform.
That was one of the reasons why a move to Tottenham this summer felt right for Maddison . “I could just see myself in this team, in this uniform, in this stadium. It just suited me. And they always had players like that,” he said. It helped that Gascoigne was also his father's favorite player.
Maddison has lived up to expectations in his first four Premier League appearances since his £40 million arrival from Leicester City. Two goals and two assists so far, but they were delivered with the swagger of a player enjoying the spotlight.
Gascoigne was pelted with Mars bars and responded by eating one, while Maddison was attacked from the side away fans and teased them in return. “Southgate is right, you’re crap,” the Bournemouth fans sang as he took the corner. Maddison boldly took the ball out of the quadrant closer to the goal and winked at the stands when he saw his reaction.
“It makes me hungry,” he said. “I like the theatrical element of being a little bit like the villain. It helps me be in better shape. That's how much I liked watching it, and that's how I liked playing it.
“Before you turned pro, you were a fan of the game, and I liked players who had personality, I liked watching players, which were a little cheeky, a little more than your swamp standard.
Maddison has made a great start to his Tottenham career. Photo: AP Photo/Jon Super
“Gazza was a great example. Like, something stupid… I remember a clip where the cameras are recording the national anthem and it gets to him and he sticks his tongue out and starts fiddling with the camera and rolls his eyes. And I just love it. That's why I like to interact with fans and show my personality.»
Maddison's opinion stands out from the crowd as a sign that things are going well. He is never far from criticism. His work speed. His social life. When he posted a topless photo of himself with his newborn twins this summer, he was trolled. He found allies in the Mumsnet community, who pointed out the many benefits of skin-to-skin contact between babies and their dads.
For England, fans will remember Gareth Southgate as there is a perception that Maddison is not trusted. He eventually pulled out of the lineup in 2019 due to illness and was photographed at a casino a few days later. Otherwise, why would there be a four-year gap between his debut and his second match for the national team?
“Look, it’s important that you also have a social life,” he said. “I’m not going to sit in my room and go to bed at 8 p.m. I'm a sociable guy. I have friends and I also like to go out. It's normal, I think. You need that stimulus in your life — a good balance between family and social life and hard professional work.
“If you don't take care of yourself, you'll get found out pretty quickly. So I think it's more the perception from the outside rather than the people on the inside.»
At the World Championships last season, he made sure that he had a noticeably positive attitude towards the camp while he was recovering from a minor knee injury. rather than expressing his disappointment at being taken out of the game after breaking into Southgate's team.
“As we were leaving, Gareth gave me a huge compliment. He said he knew it was tough for me with the injury and being out on the pitch, but he was really impressed with how I carried myself in the group,” Maddison said. “He hugged me and said this as we were leaving, stuck with me. I made a conscious effort not to fall, even though I was at the World Cup and wanted to play for England.»
He got his chance when Euro qualifiers began and he is one of Southgate's in-form players at his new club this season and will replace Harry Kane as Spurs' new number 10.
“ I didn't want the number 10 jersey. to be free, to be honest, because it meant one thing and I didn’t want Harry to leave,” he said. “This is my favorite number. I have a tattoo with this number. I loved this number when I was a kid, so I was never going to say no.
“I knew there was a chance for Harry to leave, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom. It was such a good feeling to have a new coach and new players and I didn't feel any hangover from the previous coaches. There was an undertone of more negative, defensive football and I didn't get any hangover from it. Everyone was a clean slate and there was a really good energy.”
Maddison's father still has montages of his son's journey to becoming a professional on YouTube. Gazza's collection is not published, but remains in the memory of Maddison Jr. His other heroes included Wayne Rooney, one of the showmen of the Premier League era.
“When you start playing football as a kid, you don't play for anything,” he added. “No politics, nothing like that. You play because you love playing football and you do what you love and you become the player you become because of what you do and what you're good at. And that will never change for me. This is non-negotiable. This is how I play. I will never change, that's why my path has turned out this way and I'm glad I ended up at Tottenham.
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