James Maddison has opened up on the emotions he experienced while watching Tottenham struggle this season, while being unable to help his teammates.
Spurs still have plenty of work to do to secure their Premier League status, but their situation looks much better than it did a few weeks ago.
Overall, it is a season that Tottenham fans will want to forget quickly, with the Lilywhites being unable to cope with the significant injury blows they have had throughout their campaign.
One of the players they missed the most over the course of the campaign is Maddison, who is not only the club’s creator-in-chief but also part of the leadership group.
James Maddison admits he has struggled with not being able to impact Tottenham’s season
The attacking midfielder finally made his long-awaited comeback on Monday, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw against Leeds.
The 29-year-old admitted that it has been a difficult season for everyone at the club, and it has been particularly challenging being unable to affect the team’s results.
When asked if it has been hard to watch the team’s struggles from the sidelines, Maddison told Football.London: “Definitely [it’s tough] because you watch through a lens of ‘what would I be doing? What could I do differently?’ It’s been a tough season for Tottenham. Really tough for the fans, really tough for the players. Lots of manager changes. It’s been a season to forget really. Not being able to affect it and help the club has been difficult.”
When asked how it felt to finally get onto the pitch against Leeds, the midfielder said: “Once I was out there and the first 30 seconds to a minute had gone by it was like ‘now I’m on the pitch, we need to get a winner here’. The nice moment had gone. It was almost straight down to business.
“I would rather be safe and come on and enjoy and build up slowly but that’s not the situation we are in. When you are on the pitch you forget about anything else anyway when the adrenaline kicks in. When you get your first touch it’s just another game and I felt really good.”
Maddison is keen to help Spurs teammates in any way he can
It is not clear when the England international will be ready to start a game for Tottenham, having gone 12 months without being involved in a competitive fixture.
Roberto De Zerbi has praised the leadership qualities of Maddison, and the former Leicester man has now reiterated that he is willing to do what it takes to give his teammates any help they can get.
When asked about the values he adds to the dressing room as a leader, Tottenham’s returning star said: “You would have to ask the other players that. I always try and help. I think I’m one of the more vocal players in the changing room.
“Being English and being from this country and knowing what it means for the fans I can feel that and portray that in a way to players from other countries or who don’t speak the language so perfectly or younger players who maybe don’t understand as much as I do.
“I just try to help and say whatever I feel will help the team or the individual player. If that is leadership, that is leadership, and I will always try to do that no matter what.”
- READ MORE: Supercomputer predicts Tottenham and West Ham final points tallies with two fixtures to go