Former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara has questioned manager Ange Posecoglou for his decision to take off James Maddison against West Ham.
Tottenham were held to a 1-1 draw against West Ham last night at the London stadium. Brennan Johnson gave Tottenham the lead but the Hammers were back in the game just 15 minutes later, Kurt Zouma scoring the equaliser.
James Maddison’s dip in form post injury
It was another game where James Maddison failed to make any significant impact to the game.
He started the season brightly but has not been the same since his injury against Chelsea back in November that saw him miss more than 2 months of action.
He scored 3 and assisted 6 in his 11 games compared to just 1 goal and 2 assists in 9 games post injury. His overall performance level has also seen a significant dip.
Ange Postecoglou criticised for taking Maddison off
Despite Maddison’s dip in form, O’Hara believes that substituting him was questionable.
He remarked on Maddison’s apparent unhappiness at being taken off and suggested that he is the type of player who could make a difference in the latter stages of a game, specially when it becomes more open.
O’Hara also mentioned that the substitutions made by Postecoglou, including bringing on Dejan Kulusevski, did not have the desired impact, and he questioned why Maddison is consistently the one being substituted.
While O’Hara acknowledged the need for fresh legs, especially in a game as open as the one against West Ham, he expressed confusion over Maddison’s regular substitution and suggested that Maddison’s skill in providing a killer pass could have been valuable in the latter stages of the match.
He told talkSPORT:
“Maddison taken off again. He didn’t look happy. He’s not one of them to throw his toys out of the pram, I don’t think, Maddison. He holds himself quite well when he gets dragged.
“But he doesn’t look the happiest getting taken off. It’s a strange one, for me. In a game like that, when the games opening up at the end, you saw it, it was a basketball match.
“Maddison is the kind of guy you want on the ball in a moment where you need one killer pass. Kulusevski come on and he’s lacking, the subs didn’t change the game. He (Postecoglou) keeps making changes and I get it. You want fresh legs, but why Maddison every week? I don’t get it.”
