Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
Mark Schwarzer says £40m Tottenham player is ‘a shadow of himself’ now
Tottenham Hotspur, quite simply, haven’t been good enough this season.
Indeed, Spurs sit 14th in the Premier League table at the moment, and there are a number of reasons why Tottenham have been so poor this season.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 5 |  Man CityManchester City | 24 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 48 | 35 | 13 | 41 |
Injuries are a key issue at Tottenham right now, but luckily, Spurs do have some players on their way back.
However, away from the injuries, performances often haven’t been good enough from their key players.
Speaking on the Seaman Says Podcast, Mark Schwarzer has been discussing Spurs’ recent problems, and he’s pointed towards James Maddison as a player who hasn’t been at the level this season.
- READ MORE: Tottenham could sack Ange Postecoglou and make offer to ‘genius’ manager if Spurs lose to Man United
James Maddison hasn’t been good enough
Schwarzer spoke about Tottenham’s issues, claiming that James Maddison has been a shadow of his former self.
Maddison has been criticised at times this season, and Schwarzer believes the midfielder simply hasn’t been as good as he has been in the past.
“Yeah. When you look at the players that are out, Solanke, 65 million pound player, he was their focal point up front, he’s injured, Schwarzer said.
“James Madison, yeah, you could say,, he’s been a shadow of himself, but they’re still really important players. So for Spurs, it’s more for Spurs on the line, I think, than Man United. I think the narrative will be very much if Man United win this game, the whole thing about it, the momentum about Ange out, whereas Man United lose, I’ll just go, well, Man United have been terrible all season and he needs another, he needs an off season, he needs a whole off season.”
James Maddison stats compared to last season
Maddison hasn’t been at his best this season, Spurs’ league position shows that, as does many of the punditry around the man.
Indeed, Maddison has been heavily criticised at times this season, but his stats this term are actually rather impressive.
While Maddison’s general play hasn’t been all that great, his impact in the final third has actually stepped up this season.
| Games | Goals | Assists | |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Maddison this season | 22 | 8 | 4 |
| James Maddison last season | 28 | 4 | 9 |
Maddison has already scored twice as many goals as he did last season, but his assist numbers are down.
Of course, Tottenham’s problems this season haven’t been down to scoring goals, Tottenham have scored 48 goals this season, but they’re shipping too many goals in too many games, and that’s costing them points.
Maddison isn’t the only Spurs player to have gone backwards this season, but his recent form does largely sum up the problems at Tottenham.