Glenn Hoddle believes that one Tottenham star might struggle to get back into the starting eleven and has advised Ange Postecoglou to make one tactical tweak.
James Maddison began the season impressively, with many feeling at the time that the attacking midfielder had recaptured the kind of form that he showed at the start of his Tottenham career.
In fact, some even felt that the 27-year-old had reason to feel hard done by at being left out of the England squad for the first couple of international breaks of the campaign.
However, the former Leicester man has now also lost his place in the Spurs team, with Dejan Kulusevski the preferred option for the attacking midfield role.
Hoddle admits that Kulusevski has gone from strength to strength since being moved centrally, pointing out that the Swede’s contribution has been pivotal both on and off the ball.
The Spurs legend opined that Ange Postecoglou‘s quest to have a balanced midfield means that Pape Sarr will continue to get the nod to start over Maddison.
Hoddle told talkSPORT: “Kulusevski had a chance when Maddison was injured to play in that number 10 role. And he’s done such a positive amount of work in there with the ball and without the ball. He really has.
“He’s come alive. If you said to me, who’s the best player at Tottenham this year so far? Kulusevski by a mile. He really has been good in that position.
“He loves playing in that position. I think he had a couple of games or a little bit of a spell at Juventus there. But, you know, he does great on the wing.
“But since he’s been in there, and I think there are certain games he’s played the pair of them in there, but since he’s put (Pape Matar) Sarr in there, a bit of energy, particularly in the second half.
“That’s the midfield that he wants the balance for. I think James is a wonderful player. And before his injury, I think he was doing excellent for Spurs.”
Hoddle also suggested that Postecoglou should stop asking both Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie to invert as the midfield gets crowded.
He implored the Australian to follow the Pep Guardiola playbook by asking one full-back to invert and the other to tuck in by making it a back three in possession.
Hoddle added: “The other thing, the other scenario that comes to mind for me is a creative number 10. You don’t want both full-backs going in there. Where’s your space?
“You know, if Maddison’s playing or whoever’s playing number 10, it’s very difficult. The space, actually, funny enough, is out in the right and the left-back position, where the full-backs would be.
“Having both in there, sometimes I would say, if I was playing, wow, this is tough in here. There are so many bodies in here. And, you know, I think that’s something. Maybe one full-back going in is what City do and other clubs maybe do.
“Maybe that might suit us a little bit more and give the likes of Maddison and certainly Kulusevski. But I think it’s Kulusevski that’s the real reason why he hasn’t been able to put him in.”
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