James Maddison can roar for England says Claude Puel

Posted Sunday, September 30, 2018 by PA

Leicester boss Claude Puel is confident James Maddison has what it takes to play international football after seeing him impress in front of England boss Gareth Southgate.

Southgate was in the crowd at St James’ Park on Saturday as Jamie Vardy’s first-half penalty and a second half-header from Harry Maguire secured a 2-0 win over Newcastle.

Asked afterwards about the 21-year-old midfielder’s England credentials, Puel said: “He continues to improve, to be clinical. He needs to keep his head on his shoulders because it’s important to keep a good consistency.

James Maddison can roar for England says Claude Puel — Gareth Southgate was at Newcastle (Owen Humphreys/PA)

“He’s just started in the Premier League, his first games and he has started very well. But to continue in this way, it’s important to keep a good focus and a good concentration without disturbing other things in his career.

“After, we will see in the future if he has a call from the national team or not. He has attributes to be an international player, but it is not my job to make the selection.”

If Vardy’s 30th-minute spot-kick – awarded against DeAndre Yedlin for handball – put the visitors in the driving seat, it was England defender Maguire who killed the game off 17 minutes from time in a performance which saw him replicate his level of performance at the World Cup finals.

Puel said: “It was his best performance this season because it was a tough game with a lot of duels, battles. He was good on the ball, he scored a good goal also – it was a complete game for him.

“Sometimes in the beginning, his concentration and focus was up and down in his game, and he improved a lot today to give a good response.”

If Puel was a happy man, opposite number Rafael Benitez was struggling to find positives as his side lost for the fifth time in seven Premier League outings this season.

Controversial owner Mike Ashley was among the crowd at St James’ for the first time since May 2017 hours after a report claimed former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon is hoping to mount a takeover bid.

Benitez has made no secret of his displeasure at Ashley’s transfer policy, which has left his squad short of quality, although the Spaniard’s decision to sell striker Aleksandar Mitrovic this summer has been brought into question by the fact that the has Serbia international has scored five league goals for Fulham, one more than the Magpies have managed.

The 58-year-old said: “Last year, we knew it could be very difficult, but in the end, we did so well that people forgot that we needed to carry on improving things and we didn’t do it.

“Now we have to be sure we keep the team working hard and all together and if we do that, we will have more chances to get results.”

Asked what message he hoped Ashley would take away, he replied: “If he’s around, it’s always positive, but it’s something that will not change what we do on the pitch.”