Tottenham Hotspur sub explained amid James Maddison injury fears vs West Ham

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder James Maddison has once again failed to complete 90 minutes in the Premier League this season after being substituted at half-time by Ange Postecoglou against West Ham.

The former Leicester City man has played in every top flight game so far this season, picking up two goals and two assists, but hadn’t managed more than 88 minutes. At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at Saturday lunchtime, Maddison lasted just 45 minutes in an end-to-end game that was 1-1 at the break.

Looking to avoid another second half capitulation as happened against Brighton before the international break, the Aussie boss was proactive with his substitutions. Senegal international Pape Matar Sarr came onto the pitch with Maddison taken off.

Having missed a chunk of last season with an ankle injury, there were some worries the Maddison may have picked up another niggle given just how early the substitution was. However, while broadcasting the match, TNT Sports confirmed that the decision was tactical and not due to an injury.

Former Spurs striker Peter Crouch was reporting from pitchside for the channel and said: “It was tactical. I was surprised at first but you can see straight away, Ange Postecoglou has given information to Kulusevski to play much, much higher. He’s got two players behind him now, a little bit more protection. What you’ll see now is Kulusevski in a much freer role.”

That change proved to be exactly what Tottenham Hotspur needed with the hosts going from 1-1 to 4-1 up by the 60th minute thanks to a flurry of goals. Yves Bissouma and Son Heung-min hit the back of the net either side of a Jean-Clair Todibo as the West Ham defence collapsed.