‘Complete waste of time’: Pundit says 26-year-old Tottenham player would’ve been useless under Antonio Conte

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Craig Burley has suggested that signing James Maddison would have been a complete waste of time for Tottenham Hotspur under their previous managers, as he praised his debut display for the club at the weekend.

Burley was speaking to ESPN after Tottenham opened their Premier League campaign with a 2-2 draw with Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.

James Maddison made his competitive Tottenham debut in the game. And he was certainly able to make a big impact, providing the assist for both of Spurs’ goals as they started life under Ange Postecoglou with a point.

Burley thinks Tottenham signing Maddison would’ve been a waste of time under previous managers

Of course, much of the talk leading up to the game centred on the departure of Harry Kane. But Maddison’s display suggested that he is ready to try and become the new talisman of the side.

His free-kick for Cristian Romero’s goal was absolutely outstanding. And according to Whoscored, he managed a staggering six key passes. That was double the amount of anyone else on the pitch that day.

It is obvious what Maddison could bring to Spurs if everything clicks. And Burley suggested that Ange Postecoglou is the ideal manager to get the best out of the England international now he has joined Tottenham.

“I think James Maddison in with the previous two managers would have been a complete waste of time,” he told ESPN.

“But I think with this manager, flooding the midfield, pushing the full-backs on, leaving themselves man for man at the back – as it seems they’re going to do – and having more possession in there with Bissouma, and when Bentancur comes back and maybe Lo Celso comes in and gets some game-time, because there wasn’t a lot of flair around him. He was the one guy doing it all. But he looked good. He did look good.”

It will certainly be a huge boost for Tottenham if they get the best out of Maddison this season. Obviously, they have now lost one of the greatest players in their history. And he will leave a huge void.

Maddison is not going to score the same number of goals. But he has 79 goal involvements in 164 Premier League games. He is someone with the potential to make a massive impact.

That return will soften the blow of losing Kane. And it is encouraging that he is already making an impact. But clearly, some Tottenham fans will inevitably wonder what could have been if Maddison was providing those chances for Kane.