Carragher names Premier League player of the season so far - as Mo Salah snubbed
Jamie Carragher has named James Maddison as his player of the Premier League season so far, snubbing the likes of Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland.
Maddison has starred for Tottenham since joining Ange Postecoglou's side from Leicester in the summer transfer window. The England international has scored three times and notched five assists in the top-flight, to help Spurs to the top of the table.
He bagged his first home goal on Monday night as the league leaders eased past Fulham. And his performance has only added to Carragher's view that the 26-year-old has emerged as the standout player in the Premier League this campaign.
"I think he has been that influential in that change at Spurs. Credit has to go to the manager because it’s philosophy and his style of play, but he’s been a major part of that," Carragher told Sky Sports.
"He took the number 10, that was Harry Kane ’s shirt, probably the greatest player to play for Tottenham. I think at one stage he had the captain’s armband. He’s just that type of personality and you mention about taking that step up and going to a bigger club.
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"Sometimes it’s too much for players and they can’t handle it. It’s not down to ability, but mentality and he can. He’s embracing that and going to a bigger club."
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Jamie Carragher has crowned James Maddison as his player of the season so far (Katie Chan/Action Plus/REX/Shutterstock)Wolves manager Gary O'Neil agreed with Carragher's assessment of Maddison's impressive campaign. O'Neil played with the attacker at Norwich and revealed that even then, it was clear Maddison would thrive.
"He was at Norwich as a young boy, he was out on loan at Coventry at the time and we made the play-offs at Norwich and he came back to train with us once his season finished at Coventry. His confidence was on show from the minute he walked in," he said.
"There was no doubt in his mind he was going to be the best player. He had the ability to back it up. You do see lads that are overconfident and maybe a little bit arrogant, but James was not that. He had an unbelievable belief in his ability and a work ethic to match it."
Carragher's comments would suggest he's overlooked both Salah and Haaland, the duo who lead the scoring charts in the Premier League. Salah has scored seven goals and notched four assists, with boss Jurgen Klopp certainly believing he is deserving of the highest accolades.
"I think that Mo Salah played for us an incredible amount of fantastic games. Today was not his best game but then [still] being that clinical with the penalty and then staying in the situation, that's probably his biggest quality, and I love that," he said.
"We need someone who can bring the ball over the line, and he was that again. I couldn't respect that fact more. It's absolutely outstanding, the numbers are crazy. He will never stop, that is his nature and that's really cool for us."
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