James Maddison had to leave the field early again as Tottenham were beaten 3-2 by Arsenal in the North London Derby on Sunday
Trailing 3-0 at the break with the visitors scoring three goals too easily from Spurs’ perspective, Ange Postecoglou’s side were left with a mountain to climb for the remainder of the tournament
Having a lot of possession and getting into good areas of the pitch, Tottenham simply couldn’t control the ball much and sadly Maddison had no influence on the proceedings at a time when his team needed it him to lead the match
by neck
The England international was virtually anonymous throughout his 64 minutes and he might have been lucky to stay on the field as long as he did if he should have been hooked much earlier
A key player for Tottenham in the early weeks of the season as they rose to the top of the Premier League table, the 27-year-old has become a shadow of his former self since returning from injury
With 3 goals and 5 assists in his first 11 Premier League games for the club, Maddison has only scored 1 goal and 2 assists in 12 games since returning in a win 3
-2 against Brentford in January
During this period, the former Norwich City man has only played the full 90 minutes once, including in February’s home win against Brighton & Hove Albion
Postecoglou has continued to start Maddison despite his dip in form, but he may now have to make a decision on his summer contract ahead of Thursday night’s London derby with Chelsea
In something that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago, a spell on the bench for the first time this season could be the key to the player’s resurgence for the rest of the campaign
Maddison may be Tottenham’s most creative player this season, but he is currently not in the form worthy of being a starter
This could open up the opportunity for one of his team-mates to take on a midfield role at Stamford Bridge
Dejan Kulusevski was one of Tottenham’s best players that day, putting in a very good performance after previous difficulties had seen him sit on the bench
Starting on the right wing and leading the game for Arsenal, the Swede looked like he would make a difference when he had the ball and was unlucky not to win a penalty moments before Bukayo Saka doubled the lead
for Arsenal
The Swede’s final ball may miss at times, but his work efficiency is there, as is the defensive aspect of his game, as he fights well and creates assists for Pedro Porro on Tottenham’s right wing
After Maddison was substituted in the 64th minute when Richarlison came on, Kulusevski moved into his preferred number 10 role with Brennan Johnson moving to the right wing and Son Heung-min to the left
Once again, the Swedish star impressed playing in a more central position and he had a say as Tottenham took the lead against Arsenal after Cristian Romero’s goal and then Son’s penalty in the 87th minute
Giovani Lo Celso entered the field after Son’s penalty, the Argentine player was ready to do everything in a short period of time to equalize
It is extremely unfortunate to once again have to experience poor minutes with Maddison in a position far from his current best form, the North London Derby is probably the perfect match to give Lo Celso more playing time
fight
Leave a Reply