Spurs await Maddison verdict after early exit in Chelsea win
Tottenham are waiting on the results of a medical check on James Maddison after the playmaker was forced off early in the second half of Saturday’s 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge. Roberto De Zerbi tried to play the problem down, but after the long road back from his knee injury, any fresh setback lands heavily in N17.
An early exit on a memorable afternoon
Maddison kept his place after scoring on his first start in a year and a half in Monday’s 3-1 win over Coventry, and he was one of the brightest players on the pitch as Spurs controlled the first half in west London. Seven minutes after the restart, though, he signalled to the bench and was replaced by Conor Gallagher.
The club’s own report from the game carried De Zerbi’s first reaction on the touchline. “I hope he didn’t feel a big problem, but we have to make a medical check,” the head coach said. “Maddison and Kulusevski, we have to manage them like two diamonds, because both are special players, both have different personalities.”
In his press conference he sounded cautious rather than alarmed. “I think it’s not a very important problem. We need to make the medical check tomorrow. After tomorrow, I don’t know,” he said, before adding: “I hope it’s not a big problem, because he’s a special player for us. We need him.”
Why the timing hurts
The BBC described the issue as a suspected groin injury, and former goalkeeper Rob Green said on Radio 5 Live that Maddison “got injured and he’ll be a question mark over the next few weeks”. Until the outcome of that check is made public, nobody outside Hotspur Way can say how long he might be missing.
What is clear is how much he has added in a very short space of time. It took Spurs seven league games to register a first win of the campaign, against Coventry. Two victories later they sit 12th, their highest league position since the start of January, and the Chelsea result was only the second time in 42 attempts that they have strung together back-to-back league wins. Maddison was central to both performances.
He is also one of a group, alongside Dejan Kulusevski and Mohammed Kudus, who are being eased back after long spells out. That is why De Zerbi keeps talking about managing them carefully, and why the medical department, which the head coach defended publicly when the injury list reached nine last week, will be under scrutiny again.
Who fills the gap against Palace?
Crystal Palace are next up, and if Maddison misses out De Zerbi has options of a sort. Gallagher took over at Stamford Bridge, while Mateus Fernandes earned warm praise from his manager for his display in midfield, with De Zerbi suggesting he “maybe was one of the best players on the pitch”.
The bigger picture is that this squad finally looks capable of coping. De Zerbi credited a frank team meeting before the draw at Old Trafford with changing the mood. “We removed the masks and spoke honestly and clearly in front of ourselves. From that moment, I think something started to change within us,” he told the BBC. Spurs will hope that new resilience holds while they wait for news on their number 10.
