James Maddison says he is using his England Euros snub as “fuel” and is “desperate” to get back to his best for Tottenham this season.
Maddison was the first player cut from Gareth Southgate’s provisional Euro 2024 squad in June following a disappointing second half of the campaign with Spurs .
The 27-year-old was last night back at his former club and back to something like his best, as Ange Postecoglou’s side began the season with a frustrating 1-1 draw at Leicester . He created Spurs’ goal for Pedro Porro before Jamie Vardy equalised in the second half.
Asked if he had a point to prove this term, Maddison told Standard Sport : “Of course. Setbacks are set-ups for comebacks, I’ve seen that quote somewhere! It’s how you deal with adversity. My network around me, my parents, partner, agent, the manager, they wouldn’t let me dwell on that. I knew I would come back with a hunger.
“I knew I’d be ready by game one to have a good season.
“And I want to show the gaffer, the fans, my team-mates that I can be back consistently to my best. I could not quite find that post-injury [last season], but it’s always about how you respond.
“I was devastated to miss out on the Euros, but my network, and my dad especially, would never let that define me. I’m hungry to do well this season.
“My dad just would never let me be upset — and he was upset for me, like any parent would be. He was hungry for the season, [for me to] use it as motivation to remind me that I can be at that level.
“I trained really well. I trained well with England as well, we had the warm-up game against North Macedonia and I felt I played well in that, so it was disappointing to miss out. I had a good chat with Gareth about it. All of that is motivation now, because it’s gone.
“And it’s about using [that disappointment] as fuel to be good this season, and I’m desperate to be a top player for the whole season, stay fit and show everyone the best version of myself.
“I never doubt myself. I had no doubt that in the first game I was going to be ready to go and put in a good performance. I felt like I did that.”
Although Maddison disagreed with Southgate’s decision, he feels no ill-will towards the former England boss, and revealed he messaged him after his resignation.
“Gareth’s a great man,” he said. “It was never personal. We have a great relationship. I messaged him not long ago to congratulate him on his managerial career with England.
“There’s no hatred towards him. I knew it was a decision he thought was best for the team. I didn’t agree with him, I felt I could have brought something to the squad. My focus [now] is to have a really good season.”
Maddison accepts it was two points dropped, but says Spurs must block out outside criticism.
“We should be getting three points at places like this,” he said. “No disrespect to Leicester, but they are a newly-promoted team. What we want to achieve, we need to come away with three points.
“How the game went, it was frustrating to drop points. Nights like this, the media will get carried away about us dropping points from winning positions, but it’s all outside noise.”
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