James Maddison has opened up on the mood inside the Tottenham Hotspur dressing room after another frustrating night at Stamford Bridge, with Spurs now heading into a decisive clash against Everton knowing survival is still in their hands.
Once again, Tottenham Hotspur failed to make West Ham United pay for their latest slip-up in the Premier League when they took to the pitch.
The Hammers had fallen short against Newcastle in the penultimate gameweek and looked destined for the drop this week, with Spurs needing just a point against Chelsea.
However, Tottenham themselves fluffed their lines and suffered a painful 2-1 loss at Stamford Bridge, taking the fight for survival down to the final day.
Tottenham James Maddison reveals reason for anger after Chelsea clash
It was mostly a flat performance from the Spurs players, who did not start the first half with any intensity or desire to get at Chelsea. That was very visible, as little was done to close Enzo Fernandez down when he let fly from outside the box.
In the second half, though, Spurs started to grow into the game and, right at the death, they could well have been handed a penalty after Marc Cucurella manhandled Micky van de Ven and brought him down in the box during a corner.
The decision was not entirely clear-cut, with the referee booking the Chelsea man but not awarding a penalty as he believed the ball was not in play. VAR then confirmed that decision.
That left James Maddison frustrated once more, and the Tottenham midfielder explained after the game why he believed Spurs should have been awarded a spot-kick. Speaking to Stadium Astro, Maddison said on why he was angry: “Should’ve had a penalty.”
Maddison also revealed what the referee told him during the incident and why he still believes Tottenham should have had the decision go their way.
He added, “I was just asking the referee why it wasn’t a penalty. He said because the ball wasn’t in play. Obviously gave Cucurella a yellow card for a foul on van de Ven in the box. He said the ball wasn’t in play, I think it was.”
Maddison reveals Spurs dressing room mood before Everton clash
This is certainly not the first time Maddison has been left frustrated with on-field decisions this season. Just last week against Leeds United, the midfielder felt Tottenham should have been handed a late penalty after he was brought down by Lucas Nmecha, but Spurs were denied the decision.
He then took to social media and labelled officials “petrified” as they hesitate to make decisions because of VAR.
Spurs will now look ahead to their next game against Everton and, with two points separating themselves and West Ham United alongside a superior goal difference, Tottenham once again need just a single point.
Revealing the mood in the dressing room and what Roberto De Zerbi has said ahead of Everton, Maddison told Stadium Astro: “Right now it’s a bit of frustration because if we showed a little more quality and a little more composure in the final third in a few moments then it wouldn’t be a big game on Sunday because we’d have got something out of tonight and it’d be done, but it’s not the case so we have to dust ourselves down and regroup and like I said we have a massive game for our supporters, it’s a massive game for the football club so we’d need to be ready.”