James Maddison’s half-time substitution during Tottenham’s Premier League clash against West Ham was for ‘tactical reasons’, Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou has confirmed.
It was the Hammers who broke the deadlock in Saturday’s early kick-off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Mohammed Kudus turning home Jarrod Bowen’s inviting cross on 18 minutes.
Spurs equalised 10 minutes before half-time through Dejan Kulusevski, who got the ball from Maddison before making progress towards the West Ham goal and beating Alphonse Areola from the edge of the box.
The only half-time change saw Pape Sarr replace Maddison, who appeared to take a knock just before the interval.
But TNT Sports commentator Darren Fletcher suspected Maddison has suffered an injury before saying his withdrawal was for tactical reasons.
‘You would think, I’m guessing, he’s taken a slight knock,’ Fletcher said before confirming: ‘Well, I’ve just been told there is no injury to Maddison.
‘It’s a tactical decision from the Spurs manager. To confirm, there’s no injury to Tottenham’s No. 10.’
Reacting to Postecoglou’s surprising decision, co-commentator Ally McCoist said: ‘He [Maddison] was quite quiet, wasn’t he?
‘Clearly Ange was expecting more from him and he’s thought enough is enough at half-time.’
Ex-Tottenham striker Peter Crouch added: ‘I was surprised at first.
‘But you can see Kulusevski is keeping much higher and he’s got two players behind him now for more protection. What you’ll see now is Kulusevski in a much freer role.’
Maddison soon took up his place on the Spurs bench once the second half resumed and watched on as the hosts scored three goals in 15 minutes to take a commanding 4-1 lead.
Yves Bissouma put Spurs in front seven minutes after the restart before Jean-Clair Todibo scored an own goal as West Ham fell two goals behind.
Son Heung-min skipped clear and beat Areola to add Tottenham’s fourth in a remarkable blitz following the half-time break.
Following Tottenham’s 4-1 win, Postecoglou explained his decision to remove Maddison at half-time.
‘Yes it was tactical, I just felt we needed a bit more running power in that midfield area,’ the Australian added.
‘Pape gives us some good energy there and I thought that really helped us in the second half.’
Assessing his team’s performance, Postecoglou added: ‘I thought we were good today. We had to work hard in the first half but we got back into the game after conceding.
‘After that it was outstanding from the lads, good energy, some good goals although I thought we could have gotten a few more. Good day at the office.’
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