England snub to James Maddison for World Cup would be bonkers, bordering on insanity if his creative talent wasn’t used

IT’S been said insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

In poor Gareth Southgate’s case, Madd-ness is doing the same thing over and over again while ignoring a player who is capable of getting you different results.

Where was James Maddison in England’s six hours of need over four Nations’ League ties this month?

As it happens the Leicester City game-changer was on a sunshine break when he would much rather have been helping England’s cause, so why was he deemed surplus to requirements? 

When it comes to Southgate’s Three Lions – it’s the elephant in the room. Why does England’s manager continue to snub a proven game-changer like Maddison?

Especially when the 25-year-old was the highest-scoring English midfielder last season – second only to Kevin De Bruyne as the Prem’s most prolific midfield goalscorer?

If the England players who wilted in Wolverhampton were so knackered they were on their knees during matches – as well as before them – why the Fox wasn’t the Leicester City livewire helping out?

Maddison finished the season on fire, rattling in four goals in his final four Premier League games.

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That actually edged him ahead of Jamie Vardy as Leicester’s top scorer last season with 18 goals in all competitions.

He also romped the Foxes Player of the Year award after producing the kind of consistency England is crying out for. 

Yet he still didn’t appear on Southgate’s radar when he named his bloated squad 27-strong squad which was packed, we’re told, with weary souls.

Loyalty is usually an admirable trait in a manager – until it descends into blind loyalty.

Southgate has placed his trust in graduates from his England Under-21 team like former skipper James Ward-Prowse and Mason Mount. But it’s beginning to border on favouritism.

It’s one of the faults which threatens to undermine his previous good work as he continues to contradict himself.

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One of Southgate’s admirable traits in his early days was his promise to reward players who were in form, rather than always turning to the old guard.

There was a time when he was as good as his word and made tough decisions to leave out established stars.

However, those rules don’t seem to apply to Maddison, regardless of form and this summer it’s seemed harder for some players to drop out of the England squad than get into it.

England’s jaded stars failed to score a goal in open play in four matches in June.

Jack Grealish was lauded for creating a couple of openings in a cameo appearance against Germany.

He is regarded as a potential matchwinner by Southgate and a front-line attacker.

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Yet even the £100million man can only dream of Maddison’s stats – despite having the advantage of playing for the best side in the country.

‘Super-Jack,’ managed three goals and three assists in 30 appearances in Pep Guardiola’s title-winning Manchester City team. 

Grealish’s next appearance for England will see him clock up his 25th cap, yet his only goal came against Andorra in a routine 5-0 rout.

Maddison scored 12 goals and had eight assists in 35 appearances in a Leicester side which finished eighth.

He outscored every one of Southgate’s chosen midfielders, despite not taking penalties, in fact he outgunned many of England’s forwards.

He also chipped in with more assists than all of his rivals, with exception of Mount, who managed two more. 

Southgate claimed Maddison was left out yet again this summer because others were ahead of him – but the stats simply don’t back him up.

He has also previously claimed England’s system isn’t geared to a No.10 but Maddison has played all season as a No.8 for Brendan Rodgers.

Southgate only has two games left to restore flagging confidence and his reputation before heading to Qatar.

It would be bonkers, bordering on insanity if a creative talent like Maddison – with his dead-ball brilliance and goal-scoring talent – is cold-shouldered yet again.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk