Tottenham were knocked out of the Carabao Cup at the third round stage on Tuesday night as they lost 3-1 away at Liverpool.
It meant their disappointing start to the season under Roberto De Zerbi continued, with Spurs' only win of the season so far coming in the previous round of the competition against Championship side Charlton Athletic.
Spurs are yet to win in the Premier League and are without a goal in their four top flight matches so far, with an expensively assembled squad yet to gel properly under the Italian head coach.
They had zero shots on target at all in the 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest and the Lilywhites second from bottom in the Premier League when it comes to shots on target for the season so far. They have managed just 12, with only Aston Villa - whom they play this weekend - having fewer.
It is not just down to the frontmen, with creativity sadly lacking so far this season. Players who would regularly play in the No.10 role have been missing so far, with Dejan Kulusevski not seen since the end of the 2024/25 campaign and Xavi Simons likely out of action until the start of 2027 with an ACL injury.
James Maddison himself is working his way back to full fitness, following his own ACL injury that kept him sidelined for the majority of the 2025/26 season. He has made cameo appearances off the bench in the opening day defeat to Brentford and then the most recent Premier League match with Everton, while also getting 15 minutes in his legs against the Reds on Tuesday night.
He could be key in turning Spurs' fortunes around, with many supporters hoping to see him on the pitch with more regularity sooner rather than later.
However, De Zerbi made an admission following the defeat to Liverpool that may leave some fans scratching their heads when it comes to Maddison's future in the starting lineup.
Kudus is another great news for us. Because he can play also as a number 10. We can play with Savio, Kudus, Solanke and Marmoush.
Mohammed Kudus is a major plus point for De Zerbi in returning from his own injury problems, but many would have been expecting the Ghanaian to come in and be a regular starter in one of the wide positions in a De Zerbi set-up.
That's where he played against Liverpool, but the Italian's statement about playing in the ten suggests he could have other ideas, maybe just while he waits for regular starters in that role to return to action fully.
Maddison has not played a full 90 minutes since January 19, 2025 - almost two years - although there were a few matches later in that season where he got 70 and 80-plus minutes.
Maddison stats for Spurs:
De Zerbi wants to ease him back gently and not put too much pressure on him.
"Maddison is for sure a different player, a special player. But he has to be fit, he has to be in the right physical condition. Because the Premier League intensity, even tonight, is incredible. And then we can play with eight attackers."
The 29-year-old was many people's pick to be the new club captain at Spurs following Cristian Romero's departure in the summer, and there was some surprise when he was only named as the fourth choice by De Zerbi, with Micky van de Ven as the skipper and Pedro Porro and Ben Davies ahead of the Englishman.
Many supporters may not agree with Kudus playing in the No.10 position if it is ahead of Maddison, but it may be that the former Leicester City man is set for a diminishing role in De Zerbi's new-look Tottenham Hotspur team. Or it may be that pushing him further down the captaincy list, and talking about other players for the No.10 role takes the weight of expectation off Maddison's shoulders, so he can focus on his recovery and not worry about external issues.