Former Tottenham scout Bryan King spotted something concerning about James Maddison in Spurs’ 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.

Tottenham’s lack of creativity

Tottenham have had no issues creating chances so far this season, but that was not the case at Selhurst Park as they struggled to create openings against a disciplined Eagles side.

Spurs were reliant on the likes of James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski to produce moments of magic to unlock the Palace low-block, but those never came, with the away side failing to impose themselves on the game.

James Maddison not a happy man

Maddison could not have had too many complaints when he was hooked on 62 minutes as he had failed to produce much until then.

However, Bryan King noticed that the England international did not look overly pleased when Ange Postecoglou decided to hook him as the Lilywhites were searching for an equaliser.

The pundit told Tottenham News: “Spurs looked a very ordinary team against Palace. We hardly saw any of the attacking players. Maddison was a disappointment again. There was a moment during the first half where I thought he could have scored.

“However, he seemed to get his feet into a bit of a mess. He just looked out of sorts, to be honest. And by the look of his reaction when he got pulled off just past the hour mark, he doesn’t look happy at all.”
Maddison’s frustration is understandable

No attacking player likes being taken off when the team is going in search of an equaliser. Maddison is likely particularly frustrated as he gets taken off around the hour mark in almost every single game by Postecoglou.

Perhaps that has to do with the 27-year-old’s running stats in training, with the Australian and his staff not convinced that the midfielder is capable of playing 90 minutes with the required amount of intensity.

One worrying trend is holding back Tottenham under Postecoglou – Pundit claims

Leon Osman believes it is clear where Tottenham Hotspur have to improve if they are to compete in the top end of the Premier League table.

Tottenham’s worrying away record

Spurs’ away record last season was poor, and that is an area where postecoglou would have wanted to see a big improvement in his second season.

However, we have got more of the same so far, with the Lilywhites having won just one and lost three of their five away games in the Premier League this season.

That means that, overall, Tottenham have only won 33.3 per cent of their away fixtures in the Premier League since Postecoglou has taken charge.

Leon Osman on what is holding Tottenham back

Osmon believes that Spurs’ struggles away from home is holding them back from reaching the next level, pointing out that their record at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been more than decent.

The former Everton man said on Optus Sports’ The Weekend Wrap about Tottenham’s away record: “It’s what’s holding them back. Their home record is still relatively good, where they pick up the majority of their points, but if you’re going to compete in the league towards the Champions League positions especially, your away record has to represent that.

“You have to be able to go away from home and be difficult to beat. You show character in those moments and I don’t think I’ve seen him as frosty as that in interviews.”

Reacting to Postecoglou’s frosty post-match interview, Osman suggested that the Tottenham boss appeared particularly disappointed that his side were not able to match Palace’s fight on Sunday.

The pundit added: “I’ve played in teams where you come in after the game and you can be outplayed at times, the opposition can show more quality, but they better not have outworked us, outfought us and shown more battle.

“That’s something that should be a given and he (Postecoglou) seems really disappointed with that performance today.”

Tottenham regressing away from home

Tottenham’s performances in their first two away games of the season (Leicester and Newcastle) were extremely impressive, even though they only had a point to show for their efforts.

It seemed like they had turned a corner when they delivered another dominant away display against Man Utd and came away with a 3-0 win.

However, since then, they have taken several steps backwards, with the displays at the Amex Stadium and Selhurst Park looking more like the Spurs side we saw away from home last season.