The grin did not leave Tottenham Hotspur star James Maddison’s face for the entirety of his 28th birthday.
Not when intelligent movement led to him scoring goals one and two of a 4-0 battering of Manchester City. Not when he was smashed and clattered to the sodden Etihad turf ground by Kyle Walker, Manuel Akanji, Bernardo Silva or Ilkay Gundogan. Not when he was withdrawn several minutes shy of the end, surrendering the captain’s armband he had been passed a short while earlier, and receiving a warm reception from Ange Postecoglou.
And certainly not when he later stood in front of three tiers of delirious Tottenham Hotspur supporters, both fists clenched in celebration, before passing his soaked shirt to a travelling youngster.
Tottenham terrorised Manchester City, with James Maddison at the heart of it all
Where to begin? With their first home defeat in 52, Manchester City have now lost five on the spin – plenty of those present on Saturday will not have followed the club the last time that happened (2006 under Stuart Pearce). Crisis? Hmmm. A stretch. But title race? Well, even Pep Guardiola admitted that being 11 off the pace, which City could be post-Anfield next Sunday, would be too much.
But let City’s (relative) woes not distract from Tottenham. Thrash Aston Villa; hand Ipswich Town a first top-flight victory in decades. Lose at Crystal Palace; hammer City on the road. All very #Spursy right?!
Postecoglou had many a fine performer. Son Heung-min virtually gave Kyle Walker his ‘Gary Neville at the Hawthorns’ moment. Vicario was outstanding between the sticks. Dejan Kulusevski was even better from wide right, but then again, he has been since August.
It was, though, a Maddison day. But for Rodrigo Bentancur’s seven-match suspension for using a racial slur about teammate Son, Maddison may well have started on the bench – a position he has occupied for the past few weeks and a far cry from 12 months back when he was being hailed as one of the division’s finest. Spurs had temporarily topped the Premier League, and their playmaker was making them tick. A three-month injury stymied Maddison’s progress, but he still had a more than passable first campaign in north London.
To succeed as a No.10 now, though, a drop of the shoulder, a few flicks of the wand, does not suffice in the same way it did, say, a decade back. The modern way is to play more as an eight, with both lung-busting darts and defensive duties part of the package.
A few weeks back, during a victory over West Ham, Maddison was withdrawn with the scores level at half-time despite getting an assist. In Spurs’ last two league games, he has played just 16 minutes. A few judges, some with plenty of football nous, had even suggested that, as fine a footballer as Maddison is, Tottenham might be better without him moving forward. If that felt premature, that is perhaps because it was.
It was obvious almost immediately on Saturday that Maddison was in the mood. Early on, he attempted to lead Spurs’ press but turned to see no one following. His frustration was visible, as was Postecoglou’s.
And that was Maddison for the entire match. Pointing. Conducting. Asking more, and more, still of his teammates. Madison won the most fouls (five) and duels (nine) of anyone on the pitch. His first goal came from a wonderful Kulusevski cross, while the second was a deft finish after a clever loop around Son’s back.
Postecoglou: “Maddison's had a decent season… but we want more than that”
“The thing about Madders was he obviously didn't go away on international duty,” Postecoglou told reporters afterwards. “He had two weeks with us and the coaches worked really hard with him and he was working really hard at training, and I could just see and said he was ready for a big game.
“He hasn't sort of lowered his ambitions or his kind of levels of the kind of player he wants to be and it's about us giving him that platform and it wasn't just his goals today. I thought he was really important for us in the build-up because he was always looking for it in tight areas and, and defensively, he worked really hard.
“So, yeah, credit to him. Like I said, I still think he's had a decent season, but it's like us as a team, we want to be more than that, we want to be more than just a decent team.”
As for Maddison himself, what he has in excess is character and personality. His self-confidence is evident – he previously said he loves to be the main man at family Sunday roasts – but he navigates successfully around arrogance.
“I’m never happy when I don’t play but I’ve been all right,” he told Sky Sports post-match. “I’ve got a lot of self-belief and if I go through tough spells, I’m able to think, ‘I’ll show you that the team is much better with me in it.’ Not in an arrogant way, but you need that self-belief to get out of a rut. I’m really happy and proud that I bounced back today and showed my leadership.”
Saturday had been set up as an afternoon of celebration for City. There was both Guardiola’s extended contract and Rodri’s Ballon d'Or to shout about. The latter spectacle was as magnificent as it was monstrous.
Presumably having blown the budget on neon signs and a pitch-sized tarpaulin, there was nothing left to spend on someone to present the Spaniard with his golden globe. And so instead he meandered alone to the middle to lift his own trophy with the awkwardness of a scratch card winner claiming their £1 prize from the cashier. That was to be City’s last joyous moment.
Tottenham have these evenings, spells of 90 minutes when big Ange can do no wrong. But they also have another mask. Fulham, who head to the Seven Sisters Road next weekend, will doubtless be licking their lips.
