Who would have thought that James Maddison would yet again be part of another team in a relegation race? The 2022/23 campaign for Leicester City has been nothing short of a disaster so far under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers. Seven games in and only one point on the board smells relegation at this early point. Therefore, the ‘painful’ verdict made after the huge loss at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium maybe shouldn’t apply to him, rather than his teammates. The Foxes’ current predicament means Chelsea’s new recruit Wesley Fofana looks like he got out of the club at the right time.
James Maddison said: “Oh definitely. It is a collective, it’s not the manager. We’re the eleven out there. It’s painful and it hurts when you see a manager who you have a lot of respect for and who you’ve built a brilliant relationship with, get so much heat and so much negativity. Ultimately we are the players out there that have to do the business. We haven’t been of late. That hurts us. It is tough to debrief it in my head so soon after. Obviously, people will check the scoreline and see 6-2 and think ‘Wow, Leicester got battered again’. But I don’t think that was the case. First half especially I thought we were outstanding.”
Rodgers, or any successor if he is unable to reverse the side’s fortunes, has a huge task on their hands to boost morale and a relegation from the top flight would most likely ensure a much-anticipated Maddison exit. The player in question himself decided to do the opposite of what Fofana did and stay put amid strong interest from Newcastle and more a tentative interest from Spurs. But a demotion to the Championship could present Fabio Paratici with the perfect opportunity to poach a top-class player for a bargain price. One to watch out for if the worst was to come to the worst for the current Premier League strugglers.
