Ange Postecoglou was unable to start in the draw between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers due to illness, on the same day James Maddison was scheduled to attend the PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace. “There’s no problem,” he said.
Yves Bissouma, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur all started in Spurs’ 2-2 draw on Sunday, with Maddison coming on as a substitute in the 64th minute.
Hours later, the 28-year-old went with teammate Brennan Johnson to watch Peter Wright defeat Luke Humphries in the last 16 of the tournament in north London. Tottenham’s team had Monday and Tuesday off.
Asked about the England international’s availability on Friday, ahead of Tottenham’s game against Newcastle United, Postecoglou said: “He was due to play last week but he wasn’t feeling well so he changed teams that day and sat on the bench.” I needed to keep it there,” he said. And he was left out of the starting team.
“I don’t think there’s any player out there who can play the amount of games we’re playing at the moment and the way we want to play and keep performing. I don’t think it’s possible. The way Madders are playing. , I don’t think there’s anything that means we’re going to get more game time.
“I still think the key for Madders is to keep him healthy and keep him sharp, especially with the program we have, and that’s not playing every game.” When he played this year. His goal numbers are strong and he’s always influencing the game and that’s what we need from him to continue. I don’t think that means he’s going to play more and I don’t think that’s possible for anyone. ”
Madison is a big darts fan (Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Postecoglou was then asked what he thought about Maddison going to watch darts despite being unwell.
“There’s nothing wrong with players having lives,” he said. “Trying to play the game of football and living life are completely different. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that and I don’t think it hurt him. He wasn’t 100 percent. , it was a game where someone needed to be 100 percent.
“He was still well enough to play, so it wasn’t like he was bedridden. If he was bedridden and didn’t come to the game and he still went to darts, there could be a problem there. But , I had no problem with that.”
Postecoglou’s reaction comes after Maddison, who was playing for Leicester City at the time, was left out of the England squad for the match against the Czech Republic in October 2019, but was photographed at the casino the next day. similar to what was said.
Postecoglou said Maddison is now “feeling better” but the illness has spread to the rest of the squad, impacting his preparations for Newcastle. Postecoglou said “several” players were affected, but did not provide specific numbers.
Spurs are already without Micky van de Ven, Ben Davies and Cristian Romero due to injury. Destiny Oudogie will be out for six weeks with a hamstring injury, although Postecoglou hopes he will be back by the end of January. First-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is aiming to return from a broken ankle by the end of February.
(Top photo: James Fearn/Getty Images)
