If Tottenham Hotspur are going to lift their first trophy since 2008 and first European trophy since the 1984 UEFA Cup, they’ll need to do it without James Maddison. Following up on pessimistic comments by Ange Postecoglou after Spurs’ 1-1 draw at West Ham on Sunday, the BBC’s Sami Mockbel is now reporting that Maddison will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
This isn’t surprising news — it’s what most people expected to hear after Maddison left the pitch during last Thursday’s Europa League semifinal first leg against Bodø/Glimt. Now we’re just getting confirmation. Maddison walked off under his own power last Thursday but it was revealed that he was going to have a scan of his knee, which if you know anything about sports injuries is generally a bad sign and usually indicative that it’s something more than just a knock.
With Lucas Bergvall also out for the season with a foot injury, this means that Spurs have lost two of their most in-form and creative midfielders within the span of two days. It’s a pretty significant blow, but not an insurmountable one, as we saw in the first leg that the pairing of Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur CAN put together a good performance under pressure. I suspect that’s what we’ll see again, even though Bissouma played 90 minutes yesterday against West Ham.
The creative burden now falls on Dejan Kulusevski, who has been shaking off the rust since his own return from injury. I would surmise we’ll see Deki slot into Maddison’s attacking midfield 10 role again, with Brennan Johnson and one of Richarlison or Wilson Odobert playing on either side of Dom Solanke.
Spurs still have progression to the Europa League finals firmly in their own hands with a two goal lead heading into Thursday’s return match in Norway. Now they have to get the job done under slightly harder circumstances. Hopefully that will have a galvanizing effect on the squad.