Spurs vs Everton: the risk in asking Maddison to fix everything

James Maddison’s possible return gives Tottenham another way to create a chance. It does not remove the need to build an attack around him. Before Everton’s visit on Saturday, our concern is that the desire for a first league win turns one returning player into the answer to several different problems.

Spurs’ latest team report puts Maddison back in contention after his shoulder injury, while Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie require assessment. Mykhailo Mudryk is out with an ankle injury; Dejan Kulusevski, Wilson Odobert and Xavi Simons also remain sidelined. Those are availability updates, not a confirmed starting eleven. Kick-off is 18:30 CAT / 17:30 BST on 12 September at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Source: Tottenham’s team news.

A creator still needs someone to stretch the defence

If Maddison plays, our preference would be to give him different options rather than repeatedly feed him in the same crowded central pocket. A teammate holding width can make an Everton defender choose whether to move out. A runner beyond him can make another hesitate before stepping forward. Those movements create the time in which a creative pass becomes possible.

The full-back decisions therefore matter beyond the names on the teamsheet. If either regular is unavailable or being managed, Spurs must decide who supplies the outside option and who stays ready to defend. Asking the replacement simply to reproduce every run of the usual starter would ignore the reason the selection has changed.

That does not mean abandoning ambition. One side can advance while the other holds a more conservative position. A winger can stay wider to avoid demanding repeated overlaps. The important point is that the arrangement should be deliberate: Maddison should not have to drop deep to start the move, find the final pass and then become the extra runner himself.

Grealish could make a hurried press expensive

David Moyes says Jack Grealish is ready to start after a good week of training, although selection remains his decision. Everton’s Friday report also says Christian Nørgaard is still unavailable. The visitors arrive unbeaten in the league, following their 2–2 draw with Manchester United. Source: Moyes’s team update.

If Grealish starts, we would want Everton to use him as more than an isolated dribbler. A nearby passing option makes the defender’s decision harder: rush towards the ball and open the next pass, or hold position and allow the receiver to turn. Against a Spurs flank whose personnel may change, that is a more persuasive plan than assuming uncertainty automatically means weakness.

Tottenham’s response should be a connected press. The first player can hurry the receiver only if a teammate is ready to cover the obvious escape. Otherwise an energetic start risks becoming several players running at different moments, leaving the full-back to defend the consequence.

Energy is useful when it creates a better decision

De Zerbi has called for an assertive opening to bring the crowd into the game. That is a reasonable demand from a side still seeking its first league victory, but it should not become an instruction to force the final action. Source: his pre-match comments.

Our analysis of the Forest draw focused on recognising a better option before shooting. Today adds a personnel question: can Spurs keep that option available if their full-backs change? Maddison can help identify it. He cannot make a teammate arrive merely by receiving the ball.

Our verdict: a draw lean, with a clear route to change it

We lean towards a draw before the teams are confirmed. That is a qualitative judgement about Tottenham’s unresolved attacking support and Everton’s credible opportunity to play through pressure, not a statistical forecast.

The countercase is a narrow Spurs win if their wide players stretch Everton, their central receiver gets the ball facing forward and their pressing remains coordinated. We would move towards that view if those conditions hold, whether or not Maddison starts. We would become more concerned for Spurs if attacks repeatedly leave one full-back defending an open flank. The returning playmaker is an opportunity; the structure around him will decide how useful it becomes.

Archive cover: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 11 October 2022; not this match. Photo: Arne Müseler / arne-mueseler.com, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Germany. Resized and responsively cropped for display; the image adaptation remains available under the same licence.