Tottenham were impressive in victory over Bournemouth on Saturday and captain Son Heung-min delivered his verdict on new signing James Maddison after the match
James Maddison scored his first goal for Tottenham on Saturday, opening the scoring against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. Taking the number ten shirt from Harry Kane, following his £100million departure to Bayern Munich, there is a lot of emphasis on Maddison to be the creative spark for Spurs this season.
Kane has, in the past few season, had to do much of the creative and goalscoring work himself, winning both the Golden Boot and the Playmaker award in the 2020/21 season – something which has never been achieved before.
Maddison’s signing was designed to be as a goal creator, although there is an expectation on him to chip in with goals too. And he has already done both in just three Premier League games this season.
And, as many Spurs supporters will tell you, Tottenham have struggled to fill the void left by Christian Eriksen in 2020. Eriksen was regularly at the top of the assists charts in the Premier League, and without him, too much burden was on Kane’s shoulders.
It will be key that Maddison does not soak up all of that pressure now, but his presence in the team is something that has been clearly lacking in years gone by. New captain Son Heung-min even admitted as much.
Speaking after the win over the Cherries, Son said: “Madders did a good job, but it doesn’t matter who scores, it’s really important we’re all celebrating together, even someone making a big tackle, or Vic (Guglielmo Vicario) making a big save.
“We could stay here all day talking about Madders. For a couple of years we needed this kind of player, making and creating the passes and chances, which is very important and playing with him is a real joy and I hope he can assist and score many goals.”
Maddison’s signing was much-needed, but there are other players who can make headlines this season and Son was keen to focus on the team objective, rather than just Maddison, despite a fine performance on the south coast.
He added: “Madders played fantastic but I want to credit everyone for the job, from the keeper, the back four, I don’t want to give so much love only to Madders!
“He is special, definitely, but when you’re looking in general at games, every single player deserves credit, even those who didn’t start.
