Ukraine v England preview | Football Digest
Away fans can chant what they like. James Maddison has identified the moment he knew for sure he was on board with Gareth Southgate. Now he wants to repay the England manager by lighting up Germany next summer to banish the dark disappointment of Qatar last year.
The Tottenham playmaker’s international career has been such a stop-start affair that conventional wisdom has become widespread that Maddison is ‘not a Gareth Southgate player’. He made his debut in 2017, was spotted in a casino after dropping out of the squad because he was “unwell” and only won his second cap in March.
Maddison was, nevertheless, included in the squad for the World Cup four months earlier, only to arrive at the camp with a knee injury that never fully cleared.
“I remember being in my room after I got my knock against West Ham and thinking ‘why now?’,” Maddison recalled. “I was hoping it would be all right, but it was causing me a bit of pain. A younger version of myself would have been a bit more sulky, a bit more moody, a bit more moany. But I thought, you know what, I am at the World Cup for my country.
“I made a conscious effort not to be down, even though I was at the World Cup and I wanted to play for England. I did not want to have this knee injury which was causing me a lot of pain. But I wanted to make sure I was there for the team and we had such a good experience in the tournament and such fine margins in the quarter-finals to go out.
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“Then Gareth gave me a massive compliment as we were leaving. He said he knew it has been tough with the injury and not featuring, but he was really impressed with the way I had carried myself round the group. Him putting his arm around me and saying that as we were leaving stuck with me.
“It has given me a hunger. I just want more and more. We have got two big games this camp and it has definitely given me motivation for Germany.”
A normally congested path to the first team has opened up with the surprise omission of Raheem Sterling from the squad and injury ruling out Jack Grealish and Trent Alexander-Arnold. In fairness, it is not in Maddison’s nature to try to be anything other than the big fish in even the fullest of ponds.
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“That’s just my personality and it’s not a conscious effort to try and be the showman,” he said. “That’s just how I play football. That’s just how I am as a person, I go for a roast dinner with my family. I like to be the main man, you know.
“Before you become a professional, you are a fan of the game and I loved players who had personality, I loved watching players who had a little bit of cheekiness about them, a little bit more than your bog-standard… I’m not sure what I mean by bog-standard but I like players who show their personality when they play.
“Paul Gascoigne was a perfect example. For example, something silly … I remember a clip where the cameras are going down the national anthem and it gets to him and he sticks his tongue out and starts messing around with the camera and going all bog-eyed. And I just love that. That’s why I like interacting with fans and showing my personality.
“So whatever the manager does, I will be ready. Sub, starter, I will be ready regardless. I have come in with the mindset of training well and trying to catch his eye again. It is always the same. Stay hungry and if called upon then try to produce what I know I can.”
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