Ange Postecoglou said James Maddison is “fine” despite being substituted after a heavy clash with Frankfurt goalkeeper Kaua Santos on Thursday.
Maddison went down in the 38th minute of Spurs’ 1-0 victory (3-2 on aggregate) in Germany, following a collision with Santos which saw the visitors awarded a penalty. The midfielder attempted to run onto a long ball by Cristian Romero, when the onrushing goalkeeper mistimed his challenge, his torso clashing with the head of Maddison.
Maddison stayed down following the challenge, and referee Davide Massa signalled for a stoppage with medical staff immediately tending to him on the pitch. A penalty was awarded after Massa was sent to the monitor for a VAR review, with Santos receiving a yellow card — a decision Postecoglou did not agree with.
“He is fine. Unbelievable courage in that moment to put his body on the line knowing full well that he was going to get a pretty severe knock and I was surprised it wasn’t a red card,” Postecoglou said in his post-match press conference.
“Super courageous from him. He is sore but I’m sure that has all been numbed knowing that he has helped us progress to the semi.”
Dominic Solanke scored the resulting penalty, which was taken five minutes after the challenge, in what turned out to be the only goal of the match. Maddison was replaced by Dejan Kulusevski shortly before half time despite attempting to continue.
Victory for Spurs means they will face Norweigan side Bodo/Glimt in May for a place in the Europa League final. The club last reached a European final in the Champions League in 2019 under now-U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino.
Postecoglou said despite the feat of reaching the semi-finals, it does not make him a “better manager,” and said garnering the belief of his squad and staff is more important than outside perceptions of him as a coach.
“I think I said yesterday, I am the same manager today that I was yesterday so if people think us winning tonight makes me a better manager or whoever thinks I wasn’t doing a good job yesterday, should be feeling the same way,” Postecoglou said.
“I don’t care, it doesn’t bother me, it doesn’t affect what I do. For me, it’s always about the dressing room. Do the players believe? Do the staff believe? That’s much more important than what others may make of me. So, unfortunately for a lot of you, you’re going to have to put up with me for a little bit longer, mate, so let’s see how that goes.”
Spurs return to action on Monday against third-placed Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. Postecoglou’s side are 15th in the table.
(Kirill Kudryavstev/AFP via Getty Images)