Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou must punish James Maddison for ‘Awful’ moment v Nottingham Forest
Ange Postecoglou will need to have words with James Maddison after the Tottenham midfielder was involved in an “awful” moment against Nottingham Forest.
Spurs moved above Aston Villa and into fourth place in the Premier League with a 3-1 victory over Nottingham Forest at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday (7 April).
Timo Werner’s cross into the box was turned into his own net by Forest defender Murillo in the 15th minute, with Chris Wood levelling 12 minutes later to leave the match 1-1 at half-time.
However, Postecoglou’s side were much-improved in the second half, with goals from Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro sealing all three points.
It was an important win in North London, but a win which Maddison did very little to contribute toward, with the England international perhaps fortunate to not be sent off in the first half.
Maddison appeared to throw a punch into the stomach of Forest’s Ryan Yates, with Danny Murphy claiming the 27-year-old was lucky to still be on the pitch while talking on BBC Match of the Day 2 (7 April).
“I can’t defend him, it’s a simple one for me, it’s a sending-off.
“He gives him a little dig and the reason he doesn’t get sent off I don’t think is because it’s James Maddison.
“I think it’s an awful decision from VAR.”
Ange Postecoglou will be keen to have a word with Tottenham star James Maddison
Maddison hasn’t been at his best in recent months, and at times he has cut a frustrated figure on the pitch for Tottenham, with this latest incident another example of that.
Postecoglou would be wise to have words with Maddison and find out what exactly is going on with Spurs’ number ten, and perhaps even drop him to the bench as a punishment for his outburst against Forest.
Not only was his dig at Yates poor, but his overall performance didn’t make for much more pleasant viewing.
As per Sofascore, he only managed to complete 83 per cent of his passes, and while four of those were key, he wasn’t able to create any big chances for his Spurs teammates.
He generated just 0.19 expected assists and a measly 0.09 expected goals through his creative play.
In addition, he only managed to find a teammate with one of his three attempted long balls forward and also completed just 50 per cent of his dribble attempts, showcasing an obvious lack of quality on the ball.
While he did win a respectable four of his six ground duels, he was also dribbled past once and gave possession of the ball away 14 times.
It was an incredibly underwhelming display from Maddison, who was hooked in the 76th minute, and Postecoglou must figure out what exactly has gone wrong with the playmaker since his return from injury.
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