GRAEME SOUNESS: Maverick James Maddison can ease the burden on Harry Kane at the World Cup

We could talk all day about the measurable aspects of football, but the best players on the game’s biggest stages have something you just can’t measure. A certain arrogance. An outlier quality. Possibly a side to them that not everyone finds terribly attractive.

James Maddison has those qualities – and that’s exactly why I’m so happy that Gareth Southgate selected him for the World Cup squad.

The reasons why he has not played as an England player for three years and was not expected to be part of this squad have been well described. Maddison hasn’t always followed the rules. He visited the poker tables on the night after retiring from an England squad three years ago due to illness.

Well, he’s not the first player to give the manager a headache. All great players can be difficult. I’m sure Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have had moments that have been challenging for their managers. But Maddison clearly has something about him. I’m not afraid he’ll get stage fright at this World Cup.

His record in England gives the impression that he is an ordinary player. Just one substitute game – and just 35 minutes of football left – in a 7-0 victory over Montenegro in a European Championship qualifier. I’m surprised he hasn’t played more often. Now it’s time for Gareth to play him and reap the rewards.

He resolves the aspect of this team that worries me most: its over-reliance on Harry Kane. If Kane doesn’t score goals and have a great tournament I really wonder where England will find them.

It’s hard to see why Maddison’s presence was even a topic of discussion before the 26-man squad was announced on Thursday, as he was England’s best attacking midfielder of the past 12 months.

He was involved in 22 Premier League goals in 2022, scoring 13 and assisting nine for a struggling Leicester side. Imagine what his stats would be if he played for Manchester City or Liverpool? With that Kane dependency, Gareth needs someone like him to weigh in.

You just can never have enough people on your team who are able to get you those goals – be it midfielders, with cute and smart play, or set pieces defenders – and if you look at the numbers of the other midfielders this years, no one can. Touch Madison.

Mason Mount was involved in 13 goals for Chelsea and Jack Grealish was involved in three for Manchester City.

Mount is a fantastic young player but last year Maddison had a lead at Leicester. He would come in for Mount in my starting lineup.

Gareth’s tendency is to go for two midfielders, but with all due respect to Wales, Iran and the US, in the group stage he should be a bit more adventurous and only have one. If England get through that group then you might be looking at two.

For now, I’d let Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kieran Trippier and Maddison go and join the front three to play some mischief while Declan Rice holds the fort.

England must approach this tournament with ambition. There’s been some conservatism from Gareth in the past, but when it comes to a stage like this you have to line up the players who pose the biggest threat and just let them do their job.

I’m looking forward to seeing what Phil Foden can bring for England and I wonder if we’re forgetting how young he is? British fans know all about him, but at the age of 22 he could be announcing himself as a star on the world stage in Qatar.

Raheem Sterling would also be a starter for me. He has never let England down and I don’t think he will at this tournament.

There has been a lot of talk about the possibility of England taking on France in a quarter-final, which would be a great test of their abilities. Let’s not go there. Let them take care of the group stage first. The England squad will not think of anything else. But this team was able to go to the semi-finals and with a lot of luck even the final.

Maddison can be an integral part of that because he is a serious performer. The bigger the stage, the more such a player will feel at home.

Saints cannot rely on children to get them out of trouble

It is worrying to see how things are going in Southampton. I know from a year as manager, until the change of ownership, that they have an intelligent, understanding fan base that is realistic about how far the club can go.

Of the 12 players they signed last summer, nine were 21 or younger. Three were bought from Manchester City’s Under 21 team because Southampton had also brought in a so-called ‘head of recruitment’, Joe Shields, from that club. In October, the recruiting ‘guru’ promptly cleared Shields for a job at Chelsea, just 13 weeks after arriving on the south coast.

After surviving relegation by five points last season, the club’s transfer policy also included the sale of three senior players – Shane Long, Oriol Romeu and Jan Bednarek – as they prepared to bet everything on the youth.

None of this screamed at me like a club trying to help the manager, Ralph Hasenhuttl, who has now been replaced by Nathan Jones from Luton Town. They didn’t seem to buy any players for Hasenhuttl in the summer. No manager in that situation would have agreed to the arrival of so many young players, when experienced performers were needed.

Not all those kids will be Premier League players for Southampton. In fact, no one could become Premier League players for the Saints.

I know the owner of the club, Dragan Solak, vaguely into golf and he is a huge football fan, but I really wonder who advises him on football matters.

What you need in a predicament like Southampton’s are battle-hardened players. The tried and true. The confidence of these young guys could soon be gone if there is no improvement in the results. There may be exceptions to the rule that kids are not the answer and I hope this is one of them. But I seriously doubt it.

Klopp’s vision is all that matters, Jordan

I was a little disappointed when Jordan Henderson said last weekend that he felt he had experienced adversity during his career at Liverpool, with people doubting him and wanting him at the club from day one.

At 32, Henderson should have been worried about what people think of him for 10 years. He has had a fantastic career. He’s captain of one of the biggest clubs in the world – and what an honor that is. He is also about to play for England in a World Cup. He has been a very happy boy.

You have to have thick skin to be a top athlete. Doubts are something you have to deal with. I don’t think Jordan will get much sympathy from either side, given the lifestyle football offers him, after more than a decade as a Premier League player. The only opinions he has to worry about are those of his manager Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool coaching team.