“Doesn’t look happy at all” – Former Spurs man makes big claim about star player after Crystal Palace defeat

Former Tottenham scout Bryan King has claimed that midfielder James Maddison did not look happy when he was subbed off against Crystal Palace. 

Maddison joined Tottenham for a fee close to £40m from Leicester City last summer and made a quick impression with his performances.

James Maddison has not been the same since his injury last season

In the first 9 games, he scored 3 and assisted another 5, continuing his impressive performances from his time at Leicester City.

He was recognised for his performances, as he won the Premier League Player of the Month for August.

However, an injury during a fierce match against Chelsea in November ended up derailing his form. He was out for a couple of months and ever since he has returned from the injury, he has failed to replicate his form.

And while his performances this season improved slightly, he has still not been able to be as impactful as he was during the games, resulting in manager, Ange Postecoglou, taking him off early in several games this season.

Recently, he was labelled as ‘sloppy’ against Manchester United, and came under fire for his performance against West Ham as well as he dropped a 4/10 performance.

Most notably, he was taken off at half-time during Tottenham’s 4-1 win over West Ham last weekend. The Australian took him off as part of a tactical switch, bringing in Pape Matar Sarr in his place.

And the change seemed to work, as Spurs went on to score 3 quick goals in 10 minutes to complete a stunning turnaround.

He was withdrawn early against Crystal Palace as well after another poor showing, as Ange Postecoglou subbed him off around the 60-minute mark.

Bryan King: James Maddison did not look happy

Speaking to Tottenham News, King noted that Maddison did not look happy at all with Ange’s decision to bring him off.

He said:

“Spurs looked a very ordinary team against Palace.”

“We hardly saw any of the attacking players. Maddison was a disappointment again. There was a moment during the first half where I thought he could have scored. However, he seemed to get his feet into a bit of a mess.”

“He just looked out of sorts, to be honest. And by the look of his reaction when he got pulled off just past the hour mark, he doesn’t look happy at all.”

Tottenham will hope that the Englishman returns to his best form to help the club end their trophy drought this season and finish in the top 4.