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James Maddison appeared to hit back at criticism from Roy Keane as the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder scored the winner against Manchester United on his return from injury and shut down the “outside noise” surrounding his performances.
The England international had clearly taken note of Keane’s comments on the Overlap podcast this week, in which the former United captain said Maddison’s return from injury wouldn’t make a difference to Ange Postecoglou’s struggling side.
“People say Maddison’s the man. When is he going to step up to the plate?” Keane said on the Overlap. “He got relegated with Leicester and he’ll get relegated with Spurs.
“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.”
Instead, Maddison’s return alongside goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario lifted Tottenham to their first home victory in the Premier League since the start of November, while piling the misery on United.
And while Maddison celebrated his 11th minute goal with his trademark darts celebration, the 28-year-old also made a “talking” motion with his hand and put his finger to his lips in a “shushing” gesture to the critics.
When asked about the celebration after the match, Maddison told Sky Sports that he hoped there were a “certain few who enjoyed me being the match winner today”.
“There was a little bit of outside noise this week. People will have their opinions but I wanted to do my talking on the pitch today,” Maddison told Sky Sports. “I hope there are a certain few who enjoyed me being the match winner today.
“Nobody is more critical of me than myself. To be fair to the the gaffer he always talks about blocking out the outside noise but sometimes it’s difficult. He prefers when we are in our own bubble but it’s difficult because it’s constantly in your face these days.
“On social media, WhatsApp, people are sending you stuff. You see this stuff, especially when it’s a big profile name. But it’s responding in the right way and I did that today, like I said I was the match winner so I’m really delighted.”
While the result only lifted Tottenham to 12th in the table, their injury list is starting to ease and Maddison hopes he can help the players who have had to battle through Spurs’ difficult run of results now he is back available again.
“It hasn’t been the season we wanted,” Maddison told Sky. “To be fair to the boys who have been fit all season, we don’t want to make excuses, but the last few months have been really difficult for the club.
“The lads who have relentlessly been going every three days, it’s nice to be an injured player coming back to take the pressure off them. It’s about us being present now and leading like they did during the bad run.”
