James Maddison has revealed that it was Son Heung-min who came up with the idea of having a pre-match huddle in front of the travelling Spurs supporters at the Gtech Community Stadium rather than near the centre circle.
It was the start of a new era at Tottenham in more ways than one, with Ange Postecolgou building a new-look Spurs side that now has a completely different leadership group, with Harry Kane having left the club and Hugo Lloris expected to follow the striker out of the door.
Unusually, the players had their pre-match huddle in front of the away section after applauding the travelling fans ahead of kick-off, with Maddison revealing that it was the club’s new captain that suggested the idea.
Heung-min Son is already making captain decisions
The attacking midfielder told Football.London following the 2-2 draw: “Sonny text me last night and I said I’ve got an idea, for the huddle instead of doing it in the middle of the pitch, we’ll go to do it over by the fans.
“I think they appreciated that, just to show we’re all together. They probably appreciated that just as much as we appreciated their support and sticking with us until the end.
“It was a nice idea for Sonny and got us off to a positive start. It was a shame the water stopped and we had to wait for 10 minutes because it lost its value a little bit.”
Maddison has been appointed as one of the two vice-captains by Ange Postecoglou, in a move that caught many people by surprise, with the 26-year-old donning the armband for the final 15 minutes of the game on Sunday after Son and Cristian Romero had both come off.
When asked if he expected to be named as one of Son’s deputies, Maddison responded: “No, I wasn’t expecting it at all. It was a lovely surprise.
“We had the meeting – you might have seen it – and I had no idea, to be honest. Since I’ve come in, I’ve just tried to be myself and lead, and take responsibility on my shoulders, which is when I’m at my best. I’m 26 now, I’m quite an experienced player.
“I’ve played a lot of games in the Premier League and we’ve got quite a young team with young players. You never really see yourself as a senior player but your age creeps up and you almost become one, so yeah I’ll take on the role with pride and try to help the team as much as I can.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Kane was a fantastic professional who always led by example on the pitch but the striker was never one for grand gestures and would generally tend to do things by the book.
It is already quite clear that Son is a different kind of leader and is prepared to go the extra mile to create a better connection with the base.