Roberto De Zerbi has spoken about James Maddison’s return to the pitch and shed light on conversations he had with the Tottenham midfielder ahead of the clash against Leeds.
Maddison was an unused substitute in Tottenham’s last three matches, and reports suggested last week that it was only a matter of time before the Spurs attacking midfielder made his comeback.
Tottenham fans finally got to see the 29-year-old make his first appearance of the season on Monday as he replaced Mathys Tel in the 85th minute, with the Lilywhites going in search of a late winner.
While Maddison was involved in some promising moments, the home side were unable to get a second goal, which means that the fight for survival remains very much alive.
Roberto De Zerbi reveals what James Maddison told him ahead of his first Tottenham appearance of the season
In the lead-up to the clash against Leeds, some pundits had called on De Zerbi to risk Maddison even if he is not 100 per cent fit, arguing that the Lilywhites needed the 29-year-old’s creativity.
In the end, the former Leicester man ended up playing more than 20 minutes due to 16 minutes of stoppage time being added on. Surprisingly, the Spurs boss admitted this was more than what Maddison expected to play.
When asked what the England international’s return means to his side, De Zerbi told Football.London: “Great news for us. He is a different player as a quality, as a guy and he will be I hope crucial for us. Yesterday I spoke with him about his physical condition and about how many minutes he could play. He played more than what he said yesterday. We are happy for him but I think we are in the right way.”
De Zerbi brushes aside the penalty decision which went against Maddison
The clash ended in controversial circumstances as Maddison went down after being caught by Lukas Nmecha, with replays showing that the Leeds star only had the slightest of touches, if any, on the ball.
Jarred Gillett turned down the appeals from the Spurs players while VAR chose not to intervene. De Zerbi was not too keen to get involved in the debate over the decision.
When asked if Tottenham should have been awarded a penalty for the incident, the Italian said: “No, no, no, I don’t want to come inside the polemic, I didn’t see and I didn’t watch again. I don’t know. Ask me a question about football if you want.”
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