James Maddison told Tottenham place is in doubt after brutal Ange Postecoglou call
James Maddison was hauled off at half-time of Tottenham's win over West Ham on Saturday, with the Englishman now facing a fight to keep his place in Ange Postecoglou's starting line-up
by Jacob Leeks · The MirrorJames Maddison has been warned he needs to step up his game if he to keep his place in Tottenham's team.
The midfielder was taken off at half-time of Spurs' win over West Ham on Saturday. Maddison started the game, which was all square at 1-1 heading into the break following Dejan Kulusevki's equaliser after Mohammed Kudus' opener for the Hammers.
As the half-time whistle blew, Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou was spotted pointing to Pape Sarr to tell him he was coming on. Maddison was the man to make way, despite providing the assist for Kulusevski's strike.
It proved to be an inspired decision though, with Spurs going on to score three unanswered goals to claim a dominant 4-1 win. And former Chelsea star Tony Cascarino believes Maddison is now in danger of losing his starting spot.
"He [Postecoglou] has put the challenge of changing Tottenham ’s mentality and notoriously soft centre on his shoulders. I liked that he was prepared to make a big call and withdraw James Maddison at half-time," Cascarino told The Times.
"It would have sent a message to every player that their place is not assured after the Brighton debacle. Maddison was a big signing last year and I have no doubt he would have taken the timing of the substitution personally. Postecoglou can manage the situation.
"But Maddison may reflect on his delivery, especially from corners, and work rate. Maddison is no longer a promising young player. He turns 28 next month and needs to impose himself on matches. He finds himself out of the England squad and his starting place for Spurs is no longer guaranteed."
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Postecoglou was adamant he had made the right decision when speaking after the game. The Australian hailed the performance of Sarr, who he insisted played a key role in Spurs winning the midfield battle.
"We needed more running power in midfield and Pape [Sarr] has lots of that, bags of energy and running. He really helped us to get control of the midfield and that gave us a good platform to go forward," Postecoglou told Match of the Day.
"Our general play improved from there and we looked dangerous going forward. We knew there had been a bit of an arm wrestle and we always back ourselves to keep going at the intensity we always do and upping it and taking the game to West Ham.
"We knew that putting them under pressure here at home we would eventually get there. We had to fight hard in the first half. Going a goal down wasn't ideal but we clawed our way back into it, and it is not easy.
"Second half we were outstanding. We upped the tempo and played some quality football, defended when we needed to and got our finishing right. We want to be that sort of side that creates lots of chances."
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