The Tottenham star who keeps making the doubters look silly

Tottenham bounced back from a couple of tough losses in the Premier League to Newcastle and Arsenal with a strong showing against Brentford, taking down the Bees 3-1.

After finishing fifth last season in their first campaign under manager Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham are hoping to get back to the Champions League in the post-Harry Kane era, and they are hoping one of their new star players can buoy that effort.

At the beginning of the 2023/24 season, James Maddison looked like the missing piece for Tottenham and was a legitimate Premier League Player of the Season candidate, writhing his way through defenders and setting up Son Heung-min and Richarlison with beautiful slipped through balls into the box.

But an injury derailed his season, like it did so many other Tottenham players, and Spurs fell from a team with an outside shot at the Premier League title to one sitting outside the top four, with Maddison slumping in the second half of the campaign.

Therefore, Maddison came into the 2024/25 season with plenty of critics, as the ex-Leicester City star was viewed by some as mercurial, inconsistent, injury-prone, and even someone who could potentially be replaced with a more well-rounded attacking midfielder like Dani Olmo.

So far in the 2024/25 season, Maddison has responded to his critics with brilliant performance after brilliant performance, and he was particularly dazzling against Brentford, registering seven dribbles completed for the highest total in that statistic of any Premier League player in the current campaign thus far.

Maddison also scored, created three chances, and drew four fouls in an elite all-around display of playmaking excellence. In fact, he has now registered multiple key passes in all five of his Premier League starts this season.

In total, Maddison has three goal contributions through five games, averaging 2.4 key passes, 2.2 fouls drawn, and 2.0 dribbles completed per game for Tottenham, putting up very similar numbers to those at the start of the 2023/24 season when he was one of the top players in the Premier League.

Maddison can go toe-to-toe with any playmaker in the English top flight in terms of quality, and Tottenham fans – and even supporters outside of the club – have to respect the 27-year-old for his quality. He is no joke, and while the injuries are an issue, a healthy James Maddison is one of the best players in England.