Tottenham: James Maddison facing uncertain future as Ange Postecoglou turns up heat on senior players at Spurs
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There were two striking things about Ange Postecoglou's line-up for Tottenham's 2-1 defeat to Newcastle on Saturday. The first was a long-awaited debut for third-choice goalkeeper Brandon Austin, a few days short of his 26th birthday. Postecoglou described Austin's display in a patched-up back five as “great” and the academy graduate is in contention to keep his place for the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool on Wednesday - even with Fraser Forster expected to return from his sickbed and new signing Antonin Kinksy through the door.
The second was Postecoglou's decision to leave out senior trio Yves Bissouma, James Maddison and Heung-min Son, despite being without 10 first-team players (by half-time, it was 11 after Radu Dragusin felt unable to continue). “I thought we were going to need some running power and energy early on and, as the game went on, we would be able to use the experience of the guys who came on and I thought it worked well,” said Postecoglou, explaining his thinking. “We finished really strong. That was the whole idea about it.
“Guys like Sonny, Biss and Maddison to a lesser extent, they have played a lot of football and having them fresh helps them mentally as much as physically and I thought all three when they came on made a real difference for us.”. There is every chance that Bissouma and Son were rested with Liverpool in mind - the game feels more significant for Spurs than Saturday, given their dismal Premier League position - but Maddison is suspended on Wednesday and was still among Postecoglou's substitutes for the third match running.
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