James Maddison Cleared to Face Crystal Palace This Weekend
James Maddison has been cleared to face Crystal Palace on Saturday, easing fears that Tottenham’s playmaker was set for another spell on the sidelines.
The midfielder limped off early in the second half of Spurs’ 2-0 win at Chelsea, a victory loaded with history and emotion after eight long years without a league triumph at Stamford Bridge. Given his recent past, the sight of Maddison hobbling off felt ominous.
This time, the news is better.
“Maddison is available,” Roberto De Zerbi confirmed ahead of Palace’s visit. “This week he didn't work like the other players, but for tomorrow he is available and he is a special player for us. A special player because of the character and he has unique characteristics.”
It has been a careful, sometimes frustrating road back for the 27-year-old since his anterior cruciate ligament injury and May return. Spurs have wrapped him in caution, wary of pushing too hard, too soon. His start to the season has reflected that – flashes of his old influence, but without the relentless rhythm that once made him the heartbeat of a side.
De Zerbi knows that rhythm only returns one way: work.
“For James Maddison or the players who are coming from a long injury, they have to work more than the other players,” he said. “But he has already four or five weeks he is working very hard and consistently.
“So, I think it's not a problem if he loses two days, but then we have to analyse if we take risk or not. If we take risk like Pedro Porro (against Aston Villa) or (Dejan) Kulusevski. We are lucky to have a big squad and it's important to not take risk with new injuries.”
The pressure finally told on the medical team and coaching staff earlier this season when Pedro Porro was pushed in the Aston Villa game. De Zerbi is not hiding from that call.
“Maybe we made some mistake with Pedro, with Aston Villa,” he admitted. “But not medical staff, it was together, me too and my staff, but it's part of the job.”
Udogie back in the frame
There is more good news for Spurs down the left flank. Destiny Udogie, who has missed the wins over Coventry and Chelsea with a knee problem after earlier issues this season, will also return to the squad for the weekend.
“He is available,” De Zerbi said. “But is another problematic player in terms of injuries now because he can't work consistently during the weeks.
“After Manchester United he didn't work with the group for a long time. And this season is different the situation because we have a great medical staff and we are taking the right decision for each player in the right moment and in the right situation.”
The Italian full-back has been a key outlet in Spurs’ build-up play, his absence forcing tweaks and compromises. Having him back, even short of full training rhythm, gives De Zerbi another dynamic option as the fixtures begin to stack.
No time for back-slapping
Tottenham come into the Palace game riding the high of that Stamford Bridge win. It was only their second Premier League away victory over Chelsea and felt like a psychological hurdle cleared as much as a tactical one.
Seventeenth-placed Palace, on paper, offer a different kind of test: less glamour, more grind. This is the type of fixture that has tripped up ambitious Spurs sides before.
De Zerbi has no interest in basking in one big result.
“We have not achieved our goal,” he warned. “We want our fans to be happy, but not now, at the end of the season.
“Now we have to push. We have to stay focused. We have to increase, improve the spirit, the appetite to win games in a row.
“One or two times is not enough.”
The message is clear: beating Chelsea means little if it is not followed by something more substantial. Consistency, not one-off statements, will define where this team finishes.
Leaders in the dressing room
If Spurs are to turn a landmark win into a genuine surge, the dressing room will have to drive it as much as the dugout. De Zerbi believes he has the characters to do exactly that.
“I believe in my players as people because we have so many leaders in our group,” he said, before reeling off the names: “(Andy) Robertson, (Micky) Van de Ven, Pedro Porro, JP Van Hecke, Sandro Tonali, Rodrigo Bentancur, Tosin (Adarabioyo), Ben Davies, Maddison.
“They want to push to keep the level of mentality, spirit and appetite high and especially now because football is going in this direction.”
Leaders at the back, creativity in midfield, depth in the squad, and now Maddison and Udogie available again. The platform is there.
What Tottenham do with it against a struggling Palace side will say plenty about whether that night at Stamford Bridge was a turning point, or just a memorable detour.
