James Maddison reveals why he doesn’t mind being the Tottenham scapegoat

James Maddison has made a rather interesting confession about being scapegoated by some pundits over recent weeks and has spoken about what his focus is on ahead of the final run-in at Tottenham this season.

Roy Keane and James Maddison have had some interesting exchanges over recent weeks, and it does not seem like the Man Utd legend is going to drop his agenda against the Tottenham man anytime soon.

Keane even criticised Maddison for laughing and joking around with his teammates during the warm-up routines ahead of the Spurs’ 2-2 draw against Bournemouth on Sunday.

This back-and-forth between the pair has started a larger conversation in the media about the 28-year-old’s value as a player, with the likes of Simon Jordan insisting that Tottenham will never win anything with Maddison.

James Maddison is not afraid to take the Tottenham heat

Maddison might be scratching his head about why he is the one to be held up as an example of what has gone wrong at Tottenham this season, given the kind of performances he has been delivering.

However, the former Leicester City man, who has 10 goals and seven assists so far this season, has insisted that he is happy to take the heat from the media if it means that the young players at the club are being spared.

When asked if he feels he is being scapegoated, Maddison told Sky Sports: “Yeah but that’s okay, I’d rather that than them talk about Archie [Gray] or Lucas [Bergvall]. I don’t mind taking the heat a little bit. I’m big enough and ugly enough now to take the hits and take the criticism because I know what I’m capable of.

“I know what I can do, I know my personal level and what people don’t see is what we do behind the scenes and how much we’re trying to improve and how much we work and it’s very cheap to go and sit and talk and criticise.

“Training today, the standard was unbelievable and lads working really hard because we drew at home to Bournemouth, lads are not happy, so they don’t see that it hurts us as well when we’re not doing well in the league.

“I feel good, I actually feel pretty good, feel pretty sharp, really looking forward to Thursday and beyond, try and finish the season special as a team, try and finish the season strong personally, still have a really good season in terms of goals and assists and try and look for the positives and try and spread that through the dressing room instead of focusing on the negatives and the doom and gloom of the league position.”

Maddison appears to have a PR problem for some reason

Pundits sometimes fall into the trap of assuming that a Maddison-type number ten, who plays with swagger, is a little flaky and not the kind of character who is up for a fight.

However, the Tottenham vice-captain could not be further from that. In fact, he is clearly a natural leader.

Maddison is not someone who hides or struggles to get going at difficult away grounds, and we always see him demanding the ball and trying to make things happen even when he is having an off day.

READ MORE: Mathys Tel left in awe of Tottenham teammate’s ‘technique and calmness’

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