Pundit expects Aston Villa to make special plans to deal with one Spurs star
Alan Pardew was quite impressed with what he saw from James Maddison against Crystal Palace and suggested that Aston Villa will have a hard time...
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Alan Pardew was quite impressed with what he saw from James Maddison against Crystal Palace and suggested that Aston Villa will have a hard time trying to keep the Tottenham midfielder quiet.
While Maddison may not have hit the heights he did at the start of the season since returning from his injury, the attacking midfielder continues to ooze class, with Ange Postecoglou’s men often relying on him to open locks.
While Palace tried to mark the England international out of the game, he continued drifting into different parts of the pitch to find space and made a key contribution, setting up Cristian Romero’s 80th minute with a looped cross into the box.
Pardew admitted that he loves watching the way the Tottenham man goes about his work, constantly looking for solutions to play through the opposition defence.
Aston Villa will be planning for James Maddison
The former Newcastle boss suggested that Unai Emery will make special plans for Maddison in order to blunt Tottenham’s attack when the Lilywhites visit Villa Park on Sunday.
Pardew told talkSPORT (8:23 pm, March 3, 2024): “Maddison, I thought, he was terrific. You know, somebody who is looking and trying to find solutions, the whole game he is trying to find a way through the lines or trying to find a way through the back-four.
“He is looking for that incisive pass, he is looking for a moment to change the game. I loved that about him yesterday.”
“The one thing that I will say about him which makes him difficult is that you can’t man-mark him. You know, like sometimes that number 10 guy. You can get your sitter to stay with him for 95% of the game, 90%. But he drifts all over the place. He goes into the back four, he becomes a problem.
“You can’t designate somebody for him. Do you know what I mean? He is somebody you have got to put under pressure when you play Spurs. And, I bet your life Emery at Villa are making sure they are looking after him next week.”
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Postecoglou’s system suits Maddison perfectly and allows the midfielder to showcase his strengths, with the Australian giving the 27-year-old the complete freedom to drift across the pitch when Tottenham have the ball.
Even if Emery asks one of Douglas Luiz or John McGinn to man-mark Maddison, it would be hard for either player to follow him everywhere without opening up spaces in the middle of the park for Spurs to exploit.
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