By Matthew Cooper
James Maddison has been branded a "complete player" by Premier League legend Cesc Fabregas, but the Tottenham star remains a fringe member of Gareth Southgate's England squad.
Maddison has enjoyed an impressive season so far since making the move to Spurs following Leicester's relegation to the Championship. However, the 27-year-old has earned just five caps since being named in his first England squad by Southgate back in 2018.
And Maddison has had to settle for a spot on the bench as England take on Brazil at Wembley in one of few games they have ahead of Euro 2024, leaving him with little opportunity to stake his claim for inclusion in the squad.
Despite Maddison's lack of England caps, he has earned plenty of praise from two-time Premier League winner Fabregas. "Straight away you could feel he"s got the confidence," Fabregas said on the BBC's Planet Premier League podcast.
"He's got the personality to demand the ball, to make things happen and to create situations. He's good at dribbling, he is good at assisting and he can score goals. So he's a really complete player in my opinion.
"He has a good understanding with Son (Heung-min) and the strikers and for me he's a fantastic player to have. And as a coach I'm sure that you need to adapt to the strengths of your players and the better quality they have, the easier it is.
"And definitely he is one of them you would always want in your team." However, Fabregas did express some reservations about the adventurous approach Maddison is currently playing under Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou.
"It is brave and you need to trust your players a lot," the former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder added. "But for me you are not under control because you are basically reacting, you are not proactive.
"You are reacting to their movements, you are reacting to whatever the striker wants to do. If he comes deep, I come with him. If he goes attacking the space, I go with him. I'm not a big fan of this because as I said, you are not in control of the situation.
"He's dictating the play for you. I like to dictate my play and I like to take the defence. If the ball is covered, then I can press. If the ball is uncovered then my defenders need to drop a little bit."
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