James Maddison told to ‘knock on Ange Postecoglou’s door’ as Tottenham fans left baffled by decision

Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara led the complaints after James Maddison was replaced in the 1-1 draw at West Ham.

Spurs took an unconvincing point at the London Stadium after Hammers defender Kurt Zouma canceled out Brennan Johnson’s opener on Tuesday night.

Ange Postecoglou’s men lacked forward attack in a frantic end to the match and some supporters were disappointed by the decision to withdraw Maddison from the action in the 70th minute.

It is the sixth consecutive Premier League game to end prematurely for the Tottenham playmaker and his three most recent starts have all come with more than 20 minutes remaining.

Speaking on The Sports Bar, O’Hara captured the feelings of many disillusioned Spurs fans on social media, after Dejan Kulusevski replaced their main creative spark at such a crucial time.

“He (Maddison) didn’t look happy,” O’Hara said. “He’s not the type to throw his toys out of the pram and he behaves quite well when dragged.

“But he didn’t look the happiest to be knocked out. It was strange in a game like that. It was an opening and in the end it was like a basketball game.

“Maddison is the guy you want on the ball in a moment when you need an assist. The substitutes didn’t change that.

“I understand you want fresh legs. But why Maddison every week? I don’t understand.”

O’Hara added: “I would knock on his door. If I was James Maddison now and I had been sent off before the 70th minute for three games in a row, I would knock on his door.”

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Spurs were beaten 3-0 by Fulham before the international break and had to sneak past Luton with a late 2-1 victory on Saturday.

They missed the chance to overtake Aston Villa in fourth and O’Hara was not the only one baffled by Postecoglou’s decision to take Maddison out of the action.

Tottenham fan Mike told talkSPORT: “I’m very annoyed that he took Maddison off. Why?

“Honestly, it’s a diamond in there. Even with one leg, I’d still have it.

“Those last few minutes, all the way through, you know he could have done something.”

Maddison returned from a long-term injury in January, but Postecoglou insists the 27-year-old is fully fit.

Speaking after the West Ham draw, the Spurs boss said: “He’s not carrying a knock. If he was he wouldn’t be playing, so he’s fine.

“I thought he was really good, especially when he came into our final third. I thought he made some really smart passes that we didn’t capitalize on.

“For all the guys in our front third – not just our attacking players, our full-backs – we are tackling some really good areas.

“It’s about trying to show them that they don’t need to rush into our decision-making and that we will then get better results.”