00:00Tottenham Hotspur have had an eventful season with James Maddison and Vespa Suma emerging
00:08as key figures in their midfield. Both players have shown glimpses of brilliance but questions
00:14remain about their futures at the club. Maddison has been a creative spark but can he maintain
00:20consistency to lead Spurs back to the top next season? Meanwhile, Basuma has had a mixed
00:26time since his arrival and with competition for spots heating up, his place in the squad
00:32could be under scrutiny. What lies ahead for both players, we discuss their futures at
00:37Spurs and what changes could be made on the horizon for the north London side. I spoke
00:43to James Trenbath of London World to get a latest insight on Maddison and Basuma's futures
00:50at the club.
00:52Let's just look at one player in Vespa Suma. He came in and you touched on it there, he
01:00was really stale in Angie's plans, in Angie's team. He could receive the ball really well.
01:08He made the team tick from back to front when he first came in and then slowly he's petered
01:13out. He's almost at 100 games for Spurs but if you look across them, it's been pretty
01:19abysmal this season, especially the last few months. He's really suffered, he's really
01:22going through a tough patch personally as a player. How do you think he gets back to
01:27his best? Can you see him getting there? He's only 28 years of age, he's still got a lot
01:32of football to play if he can at the top, wants to be at the highest level. It's been
01:37a real poor season for him by his standards.
01:40You look at Basuma at Brighton and when Spurs brought him in, you're thinking, wow, what
01:46a signing, this is a really good deal for Spurs. Not a huge amount of money, super talent,
01:53ball-carrying midfielder, working those tight spaces, got a brilliant engine on him. It's
01:58just never worked out for him at Spurs. You don't know what's going on off the pitch and
02:04any personal issues. Obviously, we can't comment on any of that sort of thing but it looks
02:08to me from the outside in, in terms of his discipline, there's an issue there. Mentality
02:14I think is another thing. I think you could probably level that at several Spurs players.
02:17It's almost like when they get to Spurs, they get too comfortable. It's like the pipe and
02:20slippers job. You're at Spurs, nice and comfy, really nice stadium to play in every week,
02:24lovely training ground but actually on the pitch, it doesn't really matter. Nobody stands
02:29up to be countered. They all find it easy to go and hide. You can see that when Vicario
02:35has got the ball at the back, we're trying to play out from the back, which is another
02:37thing that we just play and play and play. I just don't see Basuma ever shining in a
02:43Spurs shirt. He's had flashes under Ange, a little bit under Ryan Mason, didn't really
02:47play under Antonio Conte. He didn't fancy him. Again, a really, really positive on-paper
02:54signing for Spurs that's just turned into a real disappointment. I hope he can get back
02:59to the levels because he's a terrific player. He's clearly a talent but sadly, I don't think
03:05that's going to be in a Spurs shirt now and I can see him moving on during the summer.
03:08James, let's just look at James Maddison. Obviously, coming in two seasons ago, he was
03:13fantastic. He's definitely earned his move from that relegated Leicester side and maybe
03:19confidence had knocked him with injuries and obviously not being picked for the European
03:23Championships as well with England. That obviously took a big effect on him as well, you could
03:26tell. But when he's playing for Spurs, Spurs look at a way more creative outfit going forward
03:34and they look just overall at the better side completely. What sort of impact has Maddison
03:38had and how important is he in terms of the future and moving forward?
03:44I still think James Maddison's a crucial cog in the wheel. You can see, as you've just
03:48said there, Spurs are no doubt a better side when Maddison's in it. The creativity, ran
03:53the game against Alkmaar, really, really, really, really stepped up. Goals and assists
04:00this year, I think 18 goal involvements, 11 goals, 7 assists. He's still the talisman.
04:06He gets a lot of stick and I know he puts himself out there with the celebrations. He's
04:10quite flamboyant and he has gone missing at times this season. There's no doubt his form
04:15suffered. But again, he's been in and out of the team. He either starts games and doesn't
04:21finish or he doesn't start and he comes on for the last 20 minutes. So, his rhythm has
04:26been severely hampered, I guess you'd say. You see the damage that he can do. The way
04:31he drops the shoulder, his movement, he's the eye for a pass, terrific on the dead ball
04:35and he knows where the goal is as well, as I say. So, we need to be giving him all the
04:40freedom we can, building the team around him.
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