The rise of Tottenham’s James Maddison, fuelled by ‘supreme confidence in his ability’
New York TimesThere was excitement about James Maddison’s league debut for Norwich City — and with good reason. “It wasn’t as successful as James or Norwich would’ve liked it to have been but when he came back, it had helped him.” Maddison later said the move was the making of him, with highlights including a League Cup final against Celtic at Hampden Park. Rodgers, like Irvine four years earlier, didn’t feel he could trust Maddison’s defensive side, so went with a midfield trio of Youri Tielemens, Wilfred Ndidi and Ayoze Perez instead. “I felt it was just an excuse for what was a hard decision because Madders was playing well for Leicester too.” Former goalkeeper Dean Kiely got to know Maddison through his work as Norwich’s goalkeeping coach. “It all comes back to having that supreme confidence in his ability,” Irvine says of Maddison’s excellent start at Spurs.