Tottenham news: Spurs’ £40 million summer signing of James Maddison is already paying dividends.
Tottenham displayed some positive hints of what’s to come under Ange Postecoglou after coming under some pressure in the first half of yesterday’s Premier League win over Manchester United.
Spurs won their debut game under Postecoglou, due to Pape Matar Sarr’s first goal for the club and a weird own goal by Lisandro Martinez. The win was also Spurs’ first since Harry Kane left for Bayern Munich, with the club’s front three performing better than they did against Brentford last weekend.
Dejan Kulusevski created Sarr’s opener with typical wing play down the right while Son Heung-min showed flashes of his previous form. However, it was the performance of James Maddison that impressed many.
The England international partnered Sarr and Yves Bissouma in Spurs’ midfield three and linked up well with Son, particularly on the left. The £40million player, signed from Leicester City, is already proving pivotal to Postecoglou’s team after he assisted both goals in the draw at Brentford.
After the game, the 26-year-old was spotted leaving the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on crutches and wearing a protective boot on his left foot. Supporters will be crossing their fingers that the scare isn’t a serious one ahead of next week’s trip to Bournemouth.
The void left by Kane remains an ongoing issue in the centre-forward position for Spurs, but Maddison’s new relationship with Son could play a big part in any success this season.
In the aftermath of the win over Man United, Maddison posted a picture of him and the South Korean with a caption reading: “Come on you Spurs” while also captioning a picture of the pair on his Instagram story with ‘MaddiSon’. Son also took to Instagram to celebrate the north Londoners’ win with an image of himself and Maddison, writing: “Yessss what a great team result and incredible atmosphere today!!!”
Postecoglou placed emphasis on his attacking style of play, something that will work in Maddison and Son’s favour. Asked about his thoughts on yesterday’s game having 39 shots in total, he said: “I would prefer if more of the 39 were down our end, than the opposition.
“We don’t design and say the opposition will create chances, but it is part of it. It is a consequence of how we want to play and particularly at the moment where it is fair to say it is not really embedded in us as a group so it will leave us susceptible at times to the opposition attacking us.”
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