It just had to be that Mikel Arteta’s side had required a favour from their bitter rivals days before the 2023/24 campaign was going to draw to a close.
It was a Tuesday night game. Tottenham needed a win to keep their hopes of Champions League football alive – and if it happened, then it would have helped out Arsenal dearly.
Arteta and his players then would have headed into the final week of the season with the advantage in the Premier League title race – they proceeded to win their final game.
There was a lot of talk pre-match about Spurs fans wanting their team to lose because they simply couldn’t bear helping their neighbours out.
In the end, they lost 2-0 with a brace from Erling Haaland. But everyone remembers that Son Heung-min chance towards the end when the scores were still 1-0.
James Maddison started the game and was asked to share his thoughts on how he felt about it and he stated ‘there was enough of the media talking about it’, as he told talkSPORT (28/05/24 at 5:15 pm).
The playmaker pointed towards Spurs’ performance and how they had to be ‘professional’ and do their job, which he felt his team did, but they were up against the ‘four-time champions’.
The Euro 2024 hopeful also stated that Tottenham fans themselves started to urge their team on when they were playing better and creating chances.
James Maddison on Tottenham’s defeat to Manchester City
“There was enough of you lot talking about it in the media, though,” responded Maddison. “We didn’t need to.
“Of course, we were aware of it because it’s the business end of the season. We are professionals. Did you watch the game? Exactly, it was a brilliant save from Ortega actually and he made two, another one from Kulusevski which went under the radar because of the Son save.
“But we applied ourselves brilliantly in that game. Listen we lost the game to the four-time champions, that can happen. I get that, but we can’t get involved in that, can we? (debate on whether Spurs fans should or shouldn’t want their team to win). What do you want me to do? Sit outside and take a poll of what they want. We had game to game to game. I think the Man City game was a midweek game – there was a lot of talk of Tottenham fans not wanting us to win the game, but as the game went on, and we were getting better and creating chances. I felt Tottenham fans wanted their team to win, regardless of the outcome. That’s why I felt.”
Tottenham v Arsenal rivalry
If those outside of the north London rivalry didn’t know about it – and that includes people at the club – then they will know about it now.
You can’t blame that Spurs supporter for wanting his team to lose because if they did, then Arsenal would probably be champions right now.
But Ange Postecoglou was clearly irate after the game and you feel that type of mindset will be wiped out ahead of next season.
Plus, when you look at the overall performance, Spurs actually played really well, and if you are honest, they should have got something from the match.
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