Is James Maddison's Future as a Starter at Tottenham in Jeopardy?

James Maddison has been in quite good form since the start of the 2024-25 campaign. He looks refreshed and ready to give his all for Tottenham, and the stats reflect that.

He's already had six goal involvements in the year, including two goals. Even in games where he doesn't get on the stat sheet, his passing and creativity in midfield have sprung Spurs' forwards on the break, leading to dangerous counter-attacks for the opposition. He even teed up his new midfield partner, Dejan Kulusevski, for the equalizer against West Ham last weekend.

Then Ange Postecoglou hooked Maddison at halftime for Pape Matar Sarr for what the Australian said were tactical reasons.

“I just felt West Ham ask you certain questions in midfield areas and I just felt Pape's running power would help us in the second half. They obviously worked hard in the first half and I thought he could give us some real energy. I thought he did really well and he gave us a platform to really threatening every time we want forward and clinical in our football," Postecoglou said in the postmatch interviews.

Sarr stepped into the 8 role while Kulusevski pushed higher up the pitch, trying to find more pockets of space to create chances for Brennan Johnson, Hueng-Min Son, and Dominic Solanke. But it would be Sarr with a fantastic assist to spring Son on the counter for Tottenham's fourth goal of the match.

Meanwhile, Maddison sat on the bench, looking dejected. It's understandable. The £40 million man was signed to be the talisman of Postecoglou's Spurs, inheriting the No. 10 kit from Harry Kane and he was playing well in the first 45. Why did he have to get subbed over Kulusevski?

Is James Maddison's Future as a Starter at Tottenham in Jeopardy?

Maddison didn't put up any social media posts about the win like some of his teammates. It's natural to think this left a bitter taste in his mouth, but this is not the first time Postecoglou has subbed him off early. It's not likely to be a consistent decision by the gaffer, but sources say Maddison is taking this especially hard. It'll be interesting to see if the air is cleared by the next Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace.

The England international has been electric so far this season, but he hasn't been mistake-proof. Sometimes he loses the ball too easily, getting bullied by stronger holding midfielders. Postecoglou made the substitution because he felt Sarr's work rate, pressing, and stature matched up better with the destroying midfield of Tomas Soucek and Guido Rodriguez. After failing to make proactive subs against Brighton, the Australian wasn't fooling around.

Maddison's status as a starting player is up in the air now, though. The uptick in form from Kulusevski has certainly made the attacking midfield position more clogged. Sarr's brilliance in the second half only adds more questions.

Even so, Maddison still created more chances in his 45 minutes of action than any other player in the Premier League. Ange knows he's got a gem on his hands, and perhaps this was just a one-off, but you can't help but wonder what the Englishman is thinking.

He joined Spurs to be the face of the rebuild, and now with him, Solanke, Johnson, Kulusevski, Micky van de Ven, and Rodrigo Bentancur becoming key players, it hurts to see your role diminish. That's natural for any footballer who is their own biggest critic and is labeled as the face of the new era of Tottenham.

There's a lot of football left to play, though. The Europa League campaign continues on Thursday with Dutch side AZ Alkmaar coming to N17, one of the first big tests. Lucas Bergvall is out injured, meaning it's likely Maddison will get the starting role. This is an opportunity to cement his status as a full-time starter.

It's unlikely Maddison will get hooked at halftime again in the next run of matches, barring any dreadful efforts from the No. 10. If he bags a goal or sets up some against AZ, he'll prove he is still crucial to the game plan and he's going nowhere.