Brendan Rodgers has defended the character of James Maddison and expressed concern that a committed young professional is being wrongly portrayed.
The Leicester manager said Maddison made a mistake by going to a casino last week after being released from England duty on account of illness, an outing that left the player exposed to misrepresentation. The visit was entirely innocent, said Rodgers, who condemned “totally false” suggestions that Maddison is too fond of the high life.
Maddison was photographed at a poker table in a Leicester casino on the night England lost to the Czech Republic, a match for which Maddison was called up before coming down with flu three days before the game and being sent home.
“The kid went away with the international team and took ill while he was away,” Rodgers said. “He wanted to stay and hopefully be ready for the second game. But the England medical staff – which I can understand, as he had flu and they didn’t want that to spread to his teammates – decided it’s best for him to leave the camp.
“So he leaves, gets some tablets with our guys at the club, then he feels better. He watched the game at home on his own on the Friday and then goes out at half-time – probably he’ll make better decisions in his life but he went to a casino on his own to sit and watch the second half by a poker table.
“The suggestions are he left England purposelessly and then goes to a casino but that’s totally not the case at all. But his eyes have been opened now to the wider world in terms of what he did. He knows in hindsight he’s made a mistake.”
Rodgers’ concern is that criticism of the casino visit came in the wake of tut-tutting about other innocuous decisions made by the player, including buying a very expensive bag, while in August the television presenter Jeremy Clarkson felt the need to denounce Maddison’s hairstyle on social media. These are the offerings that Rodgers may have had in mind when he complained about the creation of a false impression of the 22-year-old.
“People make judgments on players and people without even knowing them,” he said. “This is a player about whom I’ve seen various stories in the last few months about his arrogance and his mentality – and they’re totally false. I’m not sure where they’re coming from but it’s not what this boy is about. He’s a very talented player and he has a belief in his ability. He’s a wonderful personality on the field and he’s actually a really good boy off it. He wants to learn, he wants to do better.”
Maddison’s main motivation, said Rodgers, is to keep improving in order to win an England cap, an ambition rather than an expectation.
“He’s desperate to play for England, of course he is,” said Rodgers. “That’s his ambition, that’s his life. He’s a big talent and he’s shown that in the last year. [But] Whether that’ll be good enough to play for England or not, he’s just going to give it his best. He doesn’t feel entitled to play for England but he really, really wants to play for his country and he knows that playing well for Leicester will give him a great opportunity.”
