Maddison

[Gerard]

2 hours ago, TheFish said:

You all seem to have taken great offence, and that wasn't my intent. 

 

Maddison is very good, there's no question about that. But if he was truly the superstar you think he is, why haven't the elite clubs dropped huge sums on Leicester to tempt him to leave. Leicester have sold their best players before, Maddison's contract only has 16 months left to go, he plays in a role that most elite teams utilise, it's the consensus that Leicester have holes to fill in their finances. These are all positives for a buying side before you even get to the player himself. 

 

You'd think that one of them would have tested your resolve, but instead of them, it was us. 

 

His form for you is amazing, but objectively he's not as good as the players for his role, playing for the elite sides.

 

No one is taking offence but you don't see Maddison play every week so you're opinion on him is mainly based on perception, when we see Maddison we see a player who is one of the best players in the league, arguably the best No8 in the league outside De Bruyne. His stats also compare to any other creative midfielder you'd like to name. Sometimes when you have an opinion on a player but the fans who watch him week in week out rate him far higher it's likely you're wrong and we're right.

 

We were linked with Grealish a few years ago when Villa were in the Championship and most on here groaned and didn't want him anywhere near our club. My initial reaction was the same but when I looked at the Villa forum they were talking him up as the best player Villa had in a generation and spoke of him as almost Messi like, that's was when I changed my opinion on him as the Villa fans said this to a man and how tragic it would be to lose a generational talent to Leicester for £20m odd.

 

Maddison has one year left on his contract and he would be mad to sign, he'll go for no more than £40m in the summer. £60m would probably have got him in the summer and this January and if he went Newcastle he would be your best player. I think Newcastle have missed the boat now as I see him going in the summer to one of the Manchester or London clubs (not Tottenham).

[Gerard]

2 hours ago, TheFish said:

I knew it would be an unpopular opinion, but boy oh boy did I stir up the hornets nest.

 

It reminds me of arguments with fellow Newcastle fans about our best player not really being 'World Class'. Like, Saint-Maximin is an amazing footballer, even when he's not having one of his days, but he's nowhere near good enough to play for an elite side. (No, I'm not saying Maddison is worse than ASM).

 

Maddison is your best player, and you love him. Some jumped up Northerner saying he isn't 'elite' is bound to rattle you a bit. If someone dared suggest Bruno Guimaraes isn't the second coming on a Newcastle board, you'd get the same response. I just don't think Maddison is good enough to 'get into literally any side in the world'.

 

We know a world class player when we see one. Vardy, Kante and Mahrez have been around that level at their peaks and Maddison is worthy to be mentioned in that company as their equals.

 

Don't take it as defensiveness as if you had said Brazilian Ronaldo was better than Lineker and we're blinded in defence of one of our own. No one is defending Maddison or bigging him up, this is our genuine belief after watching him for 100 games and even the stats say he has been the most productive midfielder in the Premier League for two seasons.

 

Take it as you want but I'm not going to defend any of our players for the sake of defending them, it's my genuine opinion.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

His injury record might put the top teams off him to be fair. 

[Ric Flair]

27 minutes ago, filbertway said:

Come on mate  He can hit a beautiful long ranger but my god some of his shots are stonkingly bad as well. I just don't know how someone who hits so many poor shots can be claimed to be THE best in the world. 

 

I refuse to believe there's not at least one person in the whole world who's a better long distance finisher. Becoming a podcast superstar is inflating your ego far too much mate, you're getting obscenely confident and outrageous with some of your shouts   

 

He has scored the most goals from outside the area in world football in the last few years. Not just free kicks, but all goals outside the box from both feet, nobody comes close to him bar Lionel Messi. In fact since 2018/19, only Messi has scored more than him.

[SouthStandUpperTier]

1 minute ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

His injury record might put the top teams off him to be fair. 

He's played 72% of the total available minutes in the PL since joining us. Obviously you'd prefer that to be higher but it's not like he's a total sick-note.

[Gerard]

25 minutes ago, TheFish said:

Aye but goals and assists aren't enough these days. Maddison's got ability in spades, but is he there defensively?

I've compared him to the three Newcastle midfielders and while his goals and assists outstrip theirs, his passing, possession, and defensive actions are comparable or worse. These three are not elite players. (well... maybe Bruno but I'm not getting into a fight about that)

 

Will he go for £50m when he's only got a year on his contract? 

 

Maddison said himself that if his passing stats were too high it means he's not taking enough risks, Mendy will have a much better passing stat but he rotates the ball and doesn't make many key passes or assists. Defensively is not his thing but he will graft out of possession.

 

It's quite easy to have a passing stat well into the 90's percentile if all you do is make 10 yard sideway passes, that's not Maddison's role, he's our creator.

[Dahnsouff]

2 hours ago, TheFish said:

You all seem to have taken great offence, and that wasn't my intent. 

 

Maddison is very good, there's no question about that. But if he was truly the superstar you think he is, why haven't the elite clubs dropped huge sums on Leicester to tempt him to leave. Leicester have sold their best players before, Maddison's contract only has 16 months left to go, he plays in a role that most elite teams utilise, it's the consensus that Leicester have holes to fill in their finances. These are all positives for a buying side before you even get to the player himself. 

 

You'd think that one of them would have tested your resolve, but instead of them, it was us. 

 

His form for you is amazing, but objectively he's not as good as the players for his role, playing for the elite sides.

He is in staggering form,  but I suspect his injuries is what will retard his movement to an elite side, and also I am curious in who you would class these players whom you speak of?

[Ric Flair]

1 hour ago, TheFish said:

Aye but goals and assists aren't enough these days. Maddison's got ability in spades, but is he there defensively?

I've compared him to the three Newcastle midfielders and while his goals and assists outstrip theirs, his passing, possession, and defensive actions are comparable or worse. These three are not elite players. (well... maybe Bruno but I'm not getting into a fight about that)

 

Will he go for £50m when he's only got a year on his contract? 

You lack goals though IMO. Defensively you are very impressive but you don't score enough if you want to challenge for top 4, especially in tight games and that's why you so badly need Maddison.

 

He's a 10 or an 8, he doesn't need to be defensively that good, but saying g that it's an area of his game he's improved significantly at. 

 

He's going to Man City anyway unless someone else is desperate enough to offer way over what they'll pay. The groundwork is already been laid from what I gather.

[alanf0x]

11 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

His injury record might put the top teams off him to be fair. 

No chance, it just adds to their bargaining power to pick him up on the cheap. Looks like Manchester City are the current favourites

[filbertway]

10 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

He has scored the most goals from outside the area in world football in the last few years. Not just free kicks, but all goals outside the box from both feet, nobody comes close to him bar Lionel Messi. In fact since 2018/19, only Messi has scored more than him.

Be interesting to see if he can still do it if he gets a move to an elite club and he's now facing a wall of 10 men that his shots need to beat. I really hope we sell him this summer as it's the perfect time. He's earned a crack at a big club and we're about to start a rebuild. If we can take a nice healthy transfer fee and part ways then I'm all for it. If I've got someone from our squad having a free shot from 25 yards I'm picking Youri every day.

 

Really not sure what club he moves to and gets regular game time though tbh. Wolves and Man City are covered. Liverpool don't play an AM and playing Klopps football would likely ruin him. Chelsea or United would likely be the best fit, but those teams have an abundance of players in his position. Maybe Brendan to Spurs and he demands that Madders is the marquee signing of the summer

 

 

[Ric Flair]

3 minutes ago, filbertway said:

Be interesting to see if he can still do it if he gets a move to an elite club and he's now facing a wall of 10 men that his shots need to beat. I really hope we sell him this summer as it's the perfect time. He's earned a crack at a big club and we're about to start a rebuild. If we can take a nice healthy transfer fee and part ways then I'm all for it. If I've got someone from our squad having a free shot from 25 yards I'm picking Youri every day.

 

Really not sure what club he moves to and gets regular game time though tbh. Wolves and Man City are covered. Liverpool don't play an AM and playing Klopps football would likely ruin him. Chelsea or United would likely be the best fit, but those teams have an abundance of players in his position. Maybe Brendan to Spurs and he demands that Madders is the marquee signing of the summer

 

 

There's no coincidence we are regularly up there as the leading scorers from outside the box in the PL and its because Maddison and Tielemans play for us. Think we've got double figures this season already.

[ARTY_FOX]

Maddison is up there and above a few of the best players we've ever had and we've had some belters. 

[KingsX]

3 hours ago, TheFish said:

If he was that good, somebody would have met the asking price. As they did with Grealish from Villa.

 

We can all have our opinions about Maddison, but saying Jack Grealish is superior marks you out as a very superficial fan.

 

A healthy Maddison's worst days are better than 90% of Grealish's performances.  Grealish is great at the Ds (dribbling - dawdling - diving - drawing fouls).  But there's nothing else in his locker. 

 

I'm not sure anyone has figured out why Pep wanted him at Man City.  Maybe not even Pep?

[Gamble92]

10 minutes ago, KingsX said:

 

We can all have our opinions about Maddison, but saying Jack Grealish is superior marks you out as a very superficial fan.

 

A healthy Maddison's worst days are better than 90% of Grealish's performances.  Grealish is great at the Ds (dribbling - dawdling - diving - drawing fouls).  But there's nothing else in his locker. 

 

I'm not sure anyone has figured out why Pep wanted him at Man City.  Maybe not even Pep?

The thing is when he went to Man City I thought he would go from the man who draws fouls to get Villa further up the pitch to a goals and assists machine. But Pep does seem to be asking a similar role of him at Man City. I don't think it's ALL on Grealish that his stats haven't been amazing.

[filbertway]

23 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

There's no coincidence we are regularly up there as the leading scorers from outside the box in the PL and its because Maddison and Tielemans play for us. Think we've got double figures this season already.

 

Another reason why Rodgers would be wise to move on if we lose the two of them. His bailouts will become far more infrequent.

[shade]

anyone reckon madders would be willing to sign a 1 or 2 year extension now for more money and a buy out clause inserted of like 80m? means he could still go this summer and the club might get what he's actually worth, win win.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

2 hours ago, SouthStandUpperTier said:

He's played 72% of the total available minutes in the PL since joining us. Obviously you'd prefer that to be higher but it's not like he's a total sick-note.

I guess it's subjective but missing nearly 30% of the time through injury doesn't sound good to me. That's 4/5 years out of a typical professional career!

[South Shire Fox]

50 minutes ago, shade said:

anyone reckon madders would be willing to sign a 1 or 2 year extension now for more money and a buy out clause inserted of like 80m? means he could still go this summer and the club might get what he's actually worth, win win.

Price himself out of a move? Im going to say no

[Sly]

He’ll be sold this summer whilst he still has some value. 
 

Frustrated with certain elements of the club himself, injury record and expiring contract. We won’t get what we aspire to though. 

[Sampson]

I don’t really know about Grealish or Bruno or any other players I’ve never seen regularly.

 

One thing I can safely say though is Maddison absolutely belongs in the same breath as Vardy, Mahrez and Kante. And I certainly expect him to do as well at another club as Mahrez and Kante have.

 

For me they’re probably the 4 most talented players we’ve had in the past 40 years.

Edited 23 February 2023 by Sampson

[Gamble92]

11 minutes ago, Sampson said:

I don’t really know about Grealish or Bruno or any other players I’ve never seen regularly.

 

One thing I can safely say though is Maddison absolutely belongs in the same breath as Vardy, Mahrez and Kante. And I certainly expect him to do as well at another club as Mahrez and Kante have.

 

For me they’re probably the 4 most talented players we’ve had in the past 40 years.

Better than Zsolt Laczkó?

[Strokes]

6 hours ago, TheFish said:

Absolutely, you see him every week. However, I would argue that your opinions will also be more coloured by bias? I can only go off what I see on tv and from his performance metrics. I'd love him at Newcastle.

 

 

Shearer never played for a big club, was he not elite?

[sacreblueits442]

8 hours ago, TheFish said:

Sorry, there's been a misunderstanding. Maddison isn't good enough to play for the elite teams. Not because he's at Leicester, but simply because he's not that good.

 

If he was that good, somebody would have met the asking price. As they did with Grealish from Villa.

...a #10 is nor a widely used player in teams!!!

 As a #8 he could push and support the forwards or take the ball off the backline and look to play forward. He would have to go into a club looking to utilise him in a role that he is known for (#10) and that would be a big call for a manager to attempt to build a team around him.

[winteriscoming]

Like Mahrez and Kante before irreplaceable when he leaves in the summer. 

[honeybradger]

2 hours ago, Sampson said:

I don’t really know about Grealish or Bruno or any other players I’ve never seen regularly.

 

One thing I can safely say though is Maddison absolutely belongs in the same breath as Vardy, Mahrez and Kante. And I certainly expect him to do as well at another club as Mahrez and Kante have.

 

For me they’re probably the 4 most talented players we’ve had in the past 40 years.

Ricardo as well for me, the injury came at the worst possible time in 19/20 but he was the best winger for a team that was 3rd in the table whilst playing at right back. Shame he's only had 1 year of playing time for us though.