Football latest: Premier League press conferences

Image source, Getty Images

Ahead of Tottenham’s Premier League clash with Liverpool on
Sunday, former Manchester City defender Nedum Onouha and former Chelsea
defender Gary Cahill discussed Spurs midfielder James Maddison’s role in the
team, on the latest episode of the Planet Premier League podcast.

The 28-year-old has featured in all of Spurs’ Premier League
matches this season, but has come on as a substitute in three of those games
and has yet to complete a full 90 minutes in those 16 appearances.

He was replaced by Lucas Bergvall in the 78th minute during Spurs’ dramatic 4-3 win against Manchester United on Thursday, with the game at 3-2.

Onouha described the situation as strange, saying, “this is somebody who was given the
vice captaincy, so we probably in a really simplistic way believe that anybody
who’s going to take up that sort of leadership role will be a regular within
the team.”

The pundit
went on to say that Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou was, “very passionate
about having the speed up top,” and that, he could “see how James Maddison at
times doesn’t fit into that.”

Cahill said
the lack of consistency must be, “frustrating,” for Maddison, adding, “he must
feel in his head that he delivers a lot of time that he does play.”