James Maddison’s half-time substitution during Tottenham’s Premier League clash against West Ham was for ‘tactical reasons’.
It was the Hammers who broke the deadlock 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 confirmed Maddison’s withdrawal was for tactical reasons rather than any injury to the Spurs midfielder.
‘You would think, I’m guessing, he’s taken a slight knock,’ Fletcher said before confirming: ‘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 Ange 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.
More to follow…
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