Tottenham Hotspur are hoping to avoid three defeats in the space of a week when they visit Liverpool on Sunday.
Jurgen Klopp has always moaned about fixture congestion and the workload of, not just his players, but the Premier League as a whole.
Well, Tottenham had a 15-day break recently, and since then, they have lost the north London derby, before suffering a 2-0 defeat at Chelsea on Thursday night.
It needs to be noted that this is a Spurs side that hasn’t been playing in Europe this term, yet the manager can’t find any rhythm or form to his team and there have been constant changes.
At Stamford Bridge in midweek, Postecoglou made one of his biggest statements yet when he benched senior trio Rodrigo Bentencur, James Maddison and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
In truth, it didn’t work out and the verbal beating came Tottenham’s way once again, but Paul Merson was quick to defend the man in the dugout and his side.
The former Arsenal man pointed out that the Champions League-chasers have ‘done better’ than the previous campaign and they are also ‘a better team to watch’, as he told Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports (04/05/24 at 5:35 pm).
At one point, it looked like the team was going to comfortably secure that fourth spot, but that’s now in the hands of Aston Villa and it could be confirmed as soon as Sunday if results go in the favour of Unai Emery’s men.
Merson thinks one of the reasons for Spurs’ collapse is injuries to key players throughout the season and the drop in form of Maddison.
Before the 27-year-old’s injury, Merson thought the playmaker was ‘flying’ but now he’s no longer the same player.
James Maddison’s form
“I think they have done better,” said Merson. “They are a better team to watch. They are better at football. They have had bad injuries at the wrong times. Udogie is a big player for them and they missed van de Ven for a long time.
“Maddison has come back and he hasn’t been the same player. He was flying before he got injured. Son had to go away for the Asian Cup as well. They are a decent team. They need a couple of good players.
“I don’t think the manager has done anything wrong. I think the manager is an absolute breath of fresh air.”
James Maddison at Euro 2024
The big one is coming up in the summer and there is a lot of pressure on England to finally win a trophy under Gareth Southgate.
The quality is there. From back to front, but especially in the final third. All of that puts Maddison’s spot for Euro 2024 under threat.
The issue here isn’t the player, but the man making the big calls. Someone like Maddison hasn’t exactly been top of his list.
So, when Southgate does trim his squad down for Germany, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Maddison is left out.