England’s Alternative Threat: Callum Wilson and James Maddison
Steven Pressley – the manager who fostered the careers of England duo, Callum Wilson and James Maddison – speaks to the Sports Gazette about the pair’s early careers at Coventry City.
When the England squad was announced before the World Cup, no one could really have any burning complaints.
The majority of the 26 players selected by Gareth Southgate have been tried and tested at an international level at the last two major tournaments.
Though, the routes those players from academy football to the pinnacle of the sport varies.
Some came through on the Cobham or Hale End conveyor belt. The stalwarts of English academy football all had representation in those England squads.
For others, it was an uphill battle through the English football pyramid.
This most recent squad follows the same pattern. Of the ‘surprise’ inclusions, Ben White began his career at Southampton – the same academy that nurtured the careers of Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Alan Shearer to name but a few. Conor Gallagher started at Cobham for Chelsea.
Callum Wilson and James Maddison fall into the category of those who climbed the ladder, be that in England or elsewhere (Maddison had a spell at Aberdeen in 2016/17). But both of them started their careers at Coventry City.
Steven Pressley – now head of individual development at Brentford – was the head coach when both Wilson and Maddison were learning their trade. And it was Pressley that gave them their chances at regular first team football.
“There can be an element of fate in football,” Pressley said speaking about Callum Wilson, “because when I arrived, he was on his way out of the club.
“After my first session overseeing the first team, I went to watch the development group. Immediately, Callum stood out to us.”
After that session, Pressley promoted Wilson to the first team for the remainder of the 2012/13 season. Such was his talent and application that Pressley and his backroom staff offered him a one-year contract extension. It was on the back of this offer that Wilson’s stock soared.
In his following season, Wilson scored 22 league goals despite missing two months with a shoulder injury. He was named in the League One PFA Team of the Year; he was Coventry’s top scorer even though Leon Clarke was also at the club; he was the Player’s Player of the Year; and he was the Supporters’ Player of the Year. Overall, not a bad season.
“The one thing that stood out about Callum was that he had electrifying pace.
“With that movement and that pace, he can affect and disrupt any defence at any level,” Pressley said.
Wilson showcased that electrifying pace against Iran in England’s opener in Qatar. After Jude Bellingham’s immaculately weighted through ball released the Newcastle forward, he blistered through on goal, and opted unselfishly to square the ball to Jack Grealish who tapped in from close range.
To be an English striker vying for a place in Southgate’s XI at the moment though is tough. Anyone gunning for the number nine position will be outgunned by the prowess of Harry Kane. But that’s not a criticism of Wilson or Rashford. Rather, it’s testament to Kane’s eminence for club and country.
If Wilson and Kane were to play together, however, the former has an abundance of experience in playing with a strike partner. Pressley drew a parallel between the relationship Wilson had with Leon Clarke at Coventry, and the potential relationship Wilson could have with Kane for England.
“I think it’s a very similar type of strike partnership.
“There was incredible competition between Leon and Callum over goalscoring – they drove each other,” Pressley said.
Whether Southgate would play the two together in any XI, apart from one that desperately needs a goal when trailing, is doubtful.
Wilson should count himself unlucky. The days of Yorke and Cole, or Shearer and Sutton, while glorious in their own right, are now outdated – one of the many casualties of modern football.
But should Wilson get his chance, no doubt he’ll show his worth, as he has been doing for Newcastle all season-long.
“He’s a brilliant kid. He was a kid with an amazing attitude. He’s had many setbacks and challenges in his life, but he’s such a humble and respectful lad – a pleasure to manage,” said Pressley.
In James Maddison, on the other hand, England have a midfielder with more realistic ambitions of breaking into the starting XI because, in part, England don’t have a number ten that commands the same authority as Kane.
The performances of Mason Mount regularly seem to polarise England fans; the group match against the USA being the latest instalment of Mount division.
This season in the Premier League, Maddison has the best goal involvement statistics per 90 minutes when compared with all of his English peers, bar of course, Harry Kane.
For Leicester, he’s bagged seven goals and four assists this season meaning he’s had a direct involvement in nearly half of Leicester’s goals.
“From the moment I laid eyes on James, I thought, ‘this kid is special’,” Pressley said.
“The first day that he trained with the first team, he had no inhibitions. There was no trepidation in his performance. It was like, ‘give me the ball. I’m the man’ – he was a 16-year-old kid when he first trained with the first team.”
It was suggested by the media that one of the reasons Maddison hadn’t been regularly included in the England set up was due to attitude problems, despite Southgate snubbing those claims. Perhaps though, those suggestions weren’t without reason. Maddison does possess an on-the-pitch aura that exudes a certain swagger.
Pressley attested to Maddison’s forthright confidence but viewed it differently.
“He’s a very confident kid, he’s very assured, and he borders on that arrogance which I think you require to be a top player; not arrogance in a bad way – just a confidence in his ability.”
Any shades of a more negative arrogance – if there ever were any at all – were accounted for by Pressley himself.
“It was about making him understand what was required not only to become a top player, but to become a top player for a long period of time. That’s what I worked hardest with. The car washing was part of that.”
The car washing Pressley refers to relates to the time he made Maddison wash his car because the youngster didn’t meet his high expectations in training.
“James would’ve come through at any club. But one of the things I’ve spoken about is how he comes through. The type of personality, how you steer them, how you mould them as a person. That was the area that I could affect him most. He already had the talent.
“The car washing was about his apprenticeship,” he said. “It’s about not having the entitlement and working hard for everything that you earn.”
Maddison himself has said he “owe(s) Steven Pressley a lot,” and it’s not surprising. It’s perhaps one of the reasons his character has taken hold in the way it has.
He’s one of those footballers whose personality hasn’t been completely overridden by vigorous PR training – his interviews and press conferences are testament to that. “Different from the rest,” was the phrase Pressley used when describing Maddison’s persona.
And on the pitch, Pressley feels Maddison has the necessary constituents in his game to make a difference for England.
When the question was raised about Maddison starting, Pressley was firm.
“For me, yes. Not only is he a player that can make the difference in terms of open play, but I think to have within your starting XI a player with the level of set plays that James has is another massive tool. Especially in the World Cup where games can be decided by the smallest of margins. He’s a player that can give you those small margins.”
England are into the quarterfinals now, and while Southgate is known for defensive solidarity over attacking exuberance, keeping out a red hot Kylian Mbappé, or a record-breaking Olivier Giroud, are different matters altogether.
England have, however, been a different attacking side to what we’ve seen in previous tournaments. They haven’t completely thrown caution to the wind, but there’s certainly more attacking intent. Bring Maddison into the fold and England would have a potent dynamic.
The test against the French will undoubtedly be the toughest yet at this World Cup.
Maybe England will need a trademark Maddison free kick to break the deadlock against a star-studded French defence. Maybe they’ll need Wilson’s instinctive finishing and intricate linkup play.
Either way, both can offer so much to this team, and it would be a shame if their talent wasn’t explored in an England shirt.
