Spurs are yet to register a Premier League victory after six fixtures, though they delivered an encouraging performance in last weekend's 1-1 stalemate at Manchester United

James Maddison has been tipped to become the crucial component Tottenham have been lacking by former Coventry academy coach Richard Stevens.

Spurs are yet to register a Premier League victory after six fixtures, though they delivered an encouraging performance in Saturday's 1-1 stalemate at Manchester United – where Maddison entered as a substitute for the fifth occasion this campaign.

The 29-year-old has found it difficult to regain full match sharpness following two significant knee setbacks in 2025, including an anterior cruciate ligament rupture, but Stevens, who served as academy manager during Maddison's spell at the Sky Blues, is convinced the midfielder can once again prove decisive for Tottenham.

Speaking ahead of Coventry's visit to Spurs on Monday, Stevens told the Press Association: "His driver is, 'am I playing 90 minutes and can I go and score some goals and ignite the fans,' you know? So this injury would have hurt him a lot.

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"Even in a 10-minute spell (now), when he comes on, he takes the ball and he makes things happen. He makes things tick and he gets the team playing forwards. He gets the team moving up the pitch.

"And good grief, Tottenham have had a tough time. They're an unbelievable football club and you know the players they have, maybe he's the bit that's going to connect everything together.

"I hope he's going to return and he's going to connect everything together for Tottenham because I think he has that ability to do that."

Stevens witnessed 52 youth prospects make their full debut for Coventry during his 12-year tenure overseeing the academy, and recalls how a young Maddison "ran that group" to maintain certain standards.

Coventry's financial difficulties over a decade ago created opportunities for youth-team players, and despite receiving a red card in his 12th appearance, Maddison seized his opportunity and found the net in a final day victory at Crawley which preserved his hometown club's League One status. Just four years later, he had earned an England call-up.

Tottenham had shown an interest in Maddison back in 2016, yet had to wait a further seven years before landing his signature, with an eventful spell in N17 following, comprising 83 appearances, one Europa League victory and an anxiety-inducing relegation battle.

With Maddison's third encounter against Coventry approaching, Stevens vividly remembers the slight midfielder who immediately caught his attention on that very first day.

"James was under-11. We were away at MK Dons and there was this pitch behind me and there's this little fella who just kind of carried the ball and twisted and turned," Stevens said.

"We knew he was a good player. Every team we ever played against were always aware of him and they knew him. And, I've said it many times, he just loved football.

"Loved football, obsessed with it and no surprise he has had the career he's had. If you see those pictures of that 2014-15 season, he does look like a boy, but he might have been a boy in his body, but he certainly wasn't a boy in his mentality, in his understanding of the game and his courage.

"That goal at Crawley that year, the club were 20 minutes away from a pending relegation. And I remember he arrives in the penalty area and he punches one bottom corner. Local boy, lives 300 yards from the academy training ground... you couldn't have wrote a more apt script really."

Coventry supporters only witnessed Maddison in action for 42 matches, but he can expect a special reception on Monday.

"He hasn't changed," West Brom academy boss Stevens insisted. "He came into his box after a game (in 2024), jumped over the sofa and we'd not seen each other for two or three years. And it was like he'd never been away.

"You don't forget that. That's a boy that is really appreciative of all the things that staff of Coventry did for him. Everybody's really proud and Coventry will be proud as well. They'll be looking forward to playing against him, I'm sure."