Ange Postecoglou said everyone wishes they were as confident as James Maddison, not least some of his fellow Tottenham players, as he reflected on the vice-captain’s importance to the team.
It looked like Maddison had a point to prove at Manchester City last weekend when he returned to the 11 after two Premier League games as a substitute and proved it, scoring the first two goals in a 4-0 win.
Maddison was typically on point in his post-match assessment, saying that if he gets through “tough spells to have two games out, I’m at the age now where I can go and show you that this team it’s much better with me in it.”
In other words, he wasn’t happy to have been on the bench against Aston Villa and Ipswich; he had entered the first to score with a free kick to seal the 4-1 victory. Spurs, who host Fulham on Sunday, lost 2-1 against Ipswich.
“Yes, I understand that [Maddison was unhappy] but at the same time, I’m not in the business of happiness,” said Postecoglou. “They’re all here to help us be successful whether you play or not because sometimes when you come on for 10 minutes you can help us change the course of our season.
“For me, you are a member of this team. Nothing is guaranteed to anyone. I don’t say to the players: ‘You are going to play 55 games.’ It is unlikely that anyone will; in fact no one will. So if he loses a few games … he’s disappointed, that’s fine. What I’m looking at is when you play you have the biggest possible impact and that’s what he did.”
Maddison’s confidence always shines through, whether on the pitch or in interviews. Remember his famous line about wanting to be “the main man,” even at family roast dinners.
“I don’t think he puts it in,” Postecoglou said. “He’s honest about it. He has incredible self-confidence, which is a wonderful thing to have in life. We all want to have that confidence in every field we are involved in. He wants to be the catalyst for things. The challenge for Madders and all these guys is to turn it into a positive force where the team benefits as much as he does individually.
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“I’m trying to give this team room to grow and the individuals within it to grow and have more of an impact on each other as much as themselves. There are probably guys in the team who would love to have Madders confidence in their game and he can help in that area. His season has been pretty good. He had a bit of a flat spot, I think we did as a team as well, but he’s in a good space.”
Postecoglou dropped Maddison against Villa after the 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace in the previous league game, when he and Dejan Kulusevski had started in central attacking midfield roles. Kulusevski has been Spurs’ player of the season and as such he is unacceptable. Postecoglou reintegrated Maddison against City by moving Kulusevski to the right wing and it will be interesting to see where he plays with the Swede against Fulham.
Postecoglou reported that Cristian Romero was unlikely to return from toe and calf problems on Sunday, although he did not definitively rule out the centre-half option.