Tottenham: James Maddison stinks v Newcastle as Garth Crooks shares ‘oblivious’ verdict
James Maddison let Tottenham down in the 4-0 defeat to Newcastle and has now been torn into by BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks for his performance.
Crooks slammed the midfielder as he claimed he looked oblivious to the fact Spurs are having to fight to qualify for the Champions League as he played as if the scoreline didn’t matter.
He also claimed Spurs were “hammered” which is backed up not only by the four Newcastle goals, but the hosts also outperformed their opponents as they racked up 2.88xG to Spurs’ 0.77 while having seven more shots, four more big chances and 13 more corners.
There was also criticism for Micky van de Ven who was at fault for the first two goals of the game as Crooks insisted he looked like he was “on skis”.
Writing in his BBC Sport Team of the Week [16 April], Crooks shared: “Spurs were 3-0 down in less than 60 minutes. If ever there was a case of a team showing how desperately inconsistent they are, then Tottenham’s performance at St James’ Park was it.
“The normally impressive Micky van de Ven looked like he was playing on skis, while James Maddison seemed to go through the entire match as if the scoreline didn’t matter, oblivious of the fact that his team were fighting for a Champions League spot, and getting hammered.”
James Maddison stinks for Tottenham v Newcastle
While he was not the worst player on the pitch by any means, the expectation Maddison faces is to raise the level of Tottenham’s attacking play which he struggled to do before being dragged off by Ange Postecoglou after 81 minutes.
A 90 per cent pass accuracy and four key passes were impressive in terms of his final pass, but his petulance when Spurs struggled began to shine through with his two fouls and a booking earning him heavy criticism. [Sofascore]
On top of that, he completed just one of four attempted dribbles and only four of nine ground duels, lost possession 11 times, hit the target with just one of his shots and recorded a zero per cent success rate from long passes.
Meanwhile, Van de Ven, who was also heavily criticised by Crooks, was dribbled past twice, won just one of four ground duels and was at fault for both of the first two goals as he ended up on the floor while trying to make last-ditch challenges.
It was a day to forget all around for Tottenham who must bounce back to keep their Champions League hopes alive, but as Crooks says, with Maddison playing like there is nothing on the line, he must raise his levels soon.
In other Tottenham news, Ally McCoist was fuming with Timo Werner.
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