James Maddison endures a day of punishment on a trip to a club he could have joined… as Newcastle brutally sweep Tottenham to raise questions about Ange Postecoglou

James Maddison could have signed for Newcastle. There were multiple rejected offers in the summer of 2022 and, last year, interest cooled when they were told the Leicester playmaker was interested in Tottenham.

“There’s only one greedy bastard.” the local fans chanted here. That’s not entirely fair. He was motivated by reasons beyond money. On Saturday, however, there were many reasons to doubt his reasoning.

After all, those fans only targeted Maddison because they wanted to see him in their colors. They have no shortage of crowd favorites at St James’ Park – Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon were outstanding in the 4-0 win – but Maddison has the skill and swagger they like.

It didn’t seem like it during this match, but Newcastle have been missing a playmaker of his ilk this season, and Maddison must have wondered if he had made the right decision, as his body language betrayed frustration with his teammates and a chosen game plan. aside for Eddie Howe.

At one point, Maddison seemed to beg Timo Werner to do more (blood and stones come to mind) and the harder he tried, the worse he got. He was substituted in the 81st minute, much to the delight of the Toon Army.

Eddie Howe’s team did a job on Spurs and destroyed them after a dominant performance

However, they had much more to celebrate. After a victory as brutal and convincing as last season’s 6-1 win, Spurs are 10 points ahead of Newcastle in the table.

Howe did a job with Ange Postecoglou and his players did the same with all the rivals, especially speed merchant Micky van de Ven. Quick on his feet but slow on his mind, the Dutch defender was turned inside and out and – literally, as an incredible image attests – upside down by Isak, scorer of two goals.

The Spurs were desperate and Maddison was helpless. On a dark day, his post-game thoughts were as illuminating as ever.

“A horrible day,” said the English star, overshadowed by his rival Gordon, author of one and creator of two.

‘It’s hard to talk about that. Anyone who has played here before knows what kind of game you are in for. But he still took us by surprise. Careless, careless mistakes.

“We were just not brave enough with the ball: too many safe passes, too many safe options, not enough courage to try to make a more risky pass.”

“We weren’t good enough and we have to accept it, look in the mirror and know that we weren’t good enough.” “I can only apologize to the fans for the fact that they had to witness that score.”

Maddison apologized to Spurs fans and regretted his teammates’ ‘careless mistakes’

The result raised questions about Ange Postecoglou’s style ahead of a discouraging run of matches.

The nature of the victory has Newcastle fans wondering if they can close the gap on Spurs, especially as the Londoners still have Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City to play. Even if not, and it’s a tough question, it felt like two teams were heading in opposite directions.

Is Ange Ball about to burst? A bad run in those next few games – and failure to qualify for the Champions League – would lead to an uncomfortable end to the season. So Maddison’s reflections would certainly be worth listening to.