James Maddison silences 'outside noise' after Roy Keane's criticism
James Maddison asserted that he had muted the "external distractions" following his decisive goal against Manchester United, occurring just days after Roy Keane delivered a harsh critique of the midfielder.
Keane had issued a pointed criticism of the controversial Maddison, who has faced a challenging season characterized by injuries, subpar performance, and doubts regarding his commitment.
The former Manchester United captain remarked that Maddison would not significantly impact the game upon his return from injury, referencing his attendance at the World Darts Championships in December while he was recuperating.
"People say Maddison's the man. When is he going to step up to the plate? He got relegated with Leicester and he'll get relegated with Spurs," Keane said on The Overlap podcast.
"Maddison isn't bad when he's not at the darts, but let me tell you, if you think he's going to come back and get Spurs into the top six, you're in cuckoo land.
"He's good, he's a talented player. But if you're a player in the Spurs dressing room and Maddison's back in the squad, you wouldn't be looking and going 'oh Jesus he's back today. We're going to be fine'.
"England have a squad of 300 and he can't even get in that. You kid yourselves, everybody."
Maddison was provoked by Keane's remarks and marked his 13th-minute goal in Sunday's 1-0 victory over United by mimicking the action of throwing a dart and subsequently placing a finger to his lips.
When questioned later if that gesture was directed at anyone specific, the midfielder responded to Sky Sports.: "Just a little bit of outside noise, wasn't there, this week?
"Listen, people have their opinions, but I wanted to do my talking on the pitch today, so I hope there's a certain few that enjoyed me being the match-winner today."
Maddison acknowledged that Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has encouraged his players to disregard external criticism. However, the England international utilized this criticism as motivation for his performance in a match that propelled the struggling Tottenham above the faltering United in the Premier League standings.
"No-one is more critical of myself than me. To be fair to the gaffer, he always talks about blocking out the outside noise, but sometimes it's difficult. It's constantly in your face," he said.
"You can use it, but I think the gaffer prefers when we're just in our little bubble and listening to him.
"Sometimes it's difficult because it's constantly in your face these days with social media and WhatsApp, people sending stuff, especially when it's a big-profile name.
"Listen, it's about responding in the right way and I did that today and like I said, I was the match-winner, so I'm really delighted."
SportsLigue