Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that James Maddison was only suffering from camps against Brentford and admitted that he did not like the fact that the midfielder was constantly chatting to the referee in the first half.
Maddison made his first start for Tottenham in nearly three months yesterday and the midfielder showed exactly what the Lilywhites were missing during that time, displaying his vision and creativity on the ball.
However, much like the rest of his Spurs teammates, the 27-year-old was a little sloppy on occasions during the first half, with the home side struggling to break down the Brentford defence.
The England international was a lot more tidy in the second period as Spurs came out and smothered the away side with wave after wave of attacks, scoring three quickfire goals in just eight minutes.
Maddison went down with what appeared to be a cramp towards the end of the game and was replaced by Radu Dragusin on 88 minutes.
Maddison was suffering from cramp against Brentford
When Postecoglou was asked whether it was just cramp and if he thought the former Leicester City man grew into the game, he responded (Football.London): “Yeah it was just cramp and I think that’s a fair assessment. He got more and more into the game and I think he’s one of the guilty ones who spent more time in the first half chatting to the ref than getting on the ball.
“That’s not what we want him to do. We want him to play football and I thought in the second half his quality shone through and when he’s like that, and I’m sure that game will do him the world of good, it just gives us so much more flow through that central area.”
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Some rustiness was to be expected, given that Maddison had been out of action for so long. The 27-year-old certainly gives a completely different dimension to Tottenham’s attack, given his ability to see passes that other players do not.