Tottenham Hotspur supporters already knew of the importance of James Maddison and having a true No. 10 in the squad, but the crucial nature of the playmaker has been further magnified this season by the poor play of the No. 9's. Omar Marmoush has failed to be a true scoring option in his nine appearances since signing from Manchester City for what will end up being a whopping 60 million pounds, while Dominic Solanke has been worse than that, so poor that he almost seems to be allergic to the penalty box.
The statistics are an indictment. Tottenham are undefeated and have literally won all three of their games this season with a No. 10 in the lineup. And in all the games without a 10, Spurs have not won once at all. Their winning streak started with Maddison starting against Coventry City and Chelsea, and then Roberto De Zerbi followed that up with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace. And though Madders did not face the Eagles due to a groin injury in the 50th minute at Stamford Bridge, it was Marmoush who played the 10 role, benefiting from Palace going down to 10 men early.
Tottenham really do miss James Maddison
Marmoush is less to blame than Solanke, who was the 9 against Palace and was so bad that he could not do anything against 10 men, even with Spurs totally dominating the game. Tactically, Spurs benefit from having anyone attacking in that 10 role, with Marmoush better than Mateus Fernandes, Archie Gray, or some other midifelder who is not as capable of creating chances or winning dribbles in tight attacking spaces.
But above all, James Maddison is the key player. And is clear that morseo than they would have been otherwise, Spurs are so much better with a No. 10 in their starting 11 than without because their No. 9 cannot score, create, make space, command the box, or really do anything at a high level. Mostly, that 9 has been Solanke, and when Marmoush played over him against Coventry, Spurs were better than in the other matches.
Maddison is the secondary scorer for Tottenham Hotspur now and the primary creator, because when Solanke plays he can do neither. When Marmoush plays, at least he can somewhat create, and he did score a good goal based on his own talent, rather than Solanke's one goal being a fluke finish off an insane Sandro Tonali cross vs. Manchester United. Tottenham need their 10 to be available and in fire form, because he has to be half the 9 and the full 10 himself.
Add us as a preferred source on Google