Tottenham Hotspur are back at their best as the London club on Saturday recorded three Premier League win in a row for the first time since 2023.
James Maddison who played an important role in these matches has now revealed what has changed in the squad. The England international recalls a point where Tottenham’s medical department was more populated than the dressing room.
With Ange Postecoglou’s long list of injuries now beginning to shorten, Maddison reckons they can put together a late run to earn an eighth-place finish that might be good enough for Europe.
Speaking after the victory against Ipswich, Maddison said: “It’s the difference, isn’t it? It was 2-1, it was a tight game, everyone could see that. And me and Wilson (Odobert) came on and changed the dynamic of the game a little bit.
“Whereas rewind six weeks, we didn’t have those options. We would have been starting and there would have been kids on the bench and there wouldn’t have been any changes at 60. It’s not rocket science, it doesn’t have to be someone extremely intelligent to realise that that can really help.”
Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson and James Maddison of Tottenham Hotspur watch a match from the stands (Photo by Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images)
Destiny Udogie and Brennan Johnson, who scored the first two goals, both returned at Portman Road from reasonably long spells out.
Add in goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, Odobert and recent arrivals Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso becoming available in the past fortnight and it is easy to see why Spurs feel the dark clouds are lifting.
“The physio room was busier than the changing room, it was tough,” Maddison adds. “You look at the names who were out as well, it wasn’t bit-part players, it was strong players from the XI, senior players. So it was difficult. We’ve got a lot of young players having to take on great responsibility.
“When you’re a senior player who’s out – and I only had a small injury but I’m talking for the likes of Cuti Romero, Micky van de Ven, even Vicario out for three months – it’s tough seeing the young lads having to deal with it, without being able to help.
“That’s the worst thing about football when you’re injured. You’re helpless, you can’t help the team out there, you have to watch, It drives you insane.”
Spurs’ gap to eighth is down to single digits and, with fifth expected to be good enough for a Champions League spot, a Conference League qualifier appears doable.
“I think we’re one of the teams in the league that can go on a winning streak, we showed it at the start of last season,” Maddison says.
“We have the squad and the players to be able to do that, I think there’ll be teams that are in and around the same position as us, mid-table-ish, that probably don’t feel like they can.
“But our ceiling is quite high, especially when we have our senior players back, so we’re capable of going on that run and bridging that gap, and that’s what we’re hoping to do.”
