Chadder View: Tottenham must take a chance on James Maddison against Manchester City
Matthew Chadder is a lifelong Tottenham fan who grew up just down the road from his beloved club in North London. He’s now putting his passion for Spurs into words with a daily fan view for Tottenham News…
Ange Postecoglou’s most likely route to Tottenham glory this season is through the FA Cup, and the Australian must do everything in his power to lift that trophy.
A third-round home tie against Burnley was favourable for us, although we certainly made hard work of it, and our fourth-round tie doesn’t promise to be any easier.
I was crossing my fingers for Maidstone United at home, and although we were drawn to play at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Manchester City promises to be a slightly more challenging opponent, with no disrespect intended to the non-league outfit.
Nonetheless, it is an opponent we can beat, and have done in all four meetings so far against them at our brand-new home ground. On a Friday night, under the lights, you would like to think the players and our supporters will be up for the clash, ready to create an intimidating atmosphere and roar us into the fifth round.
However, for as much as the fans in the stands can have their say, it will ultimately come down to those on the pitch, and one man who has to play is James Maddison.
The England international made an incredible start to life at the club, and I often wonder where we would be had he not got injured on that awful evening against Chelsea.
In only a few short months at Spurs, Maddison became the heartbeat of the team and never was the absence of his creative flair more obvious than against Manchester United.
Plenty of supporters, including myself, will be happy that we took a point away from Old Trafford considering the number of players we had missing. Although, having said that, on the balance of play we deserved all three points, having dominated the contest.
What was missing was a player with a killer pass who could consistently unlock United’s rearguard, a player such as Maddison.
From what we have heard, the midfielder is close to a comeback, and Postecoglou needs to do whatever it takes to get him on the pitch against Manchester City.
Fortunately, we have a lengthy layoff, but when we return to action, Postecoglou and his players face three games in eight days, the match with City, and two Premier League clashes with Brentford and Everton.
Maddison needs to be on that pitch against City, even if it means he is rested for the next two matches.
If he plays, I would definitely fancy our chances of winning, and if we can get past City then what is to stop us from lifting the FA Cup this season and ending a miserable 16-year-long trophy drought?
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