Player focus: James Maddison: Tottenham Hotspur
How would you describe London as a place? What’s it like as a city compared to where you grew up?
It’s much busier. London can be very chaotic compared to where I lived before, up North. I am originally from the Midlands, so being at Leicester for five years was great because it was quite close to home. Obviously coming to the capital was a little bit further for the family to travel. I think me and my family, and my children, are settled now. We have been here for a year now. It’s a fantastic city. It’s got everything you need, off the pitch. In terms of quality of life, it’s a beautiful city and there is so much to do. I feel like now that we are fully settled, we are loving life in London.
What has it been like coming and playing for Tottenham Hotspur knowing that there are so many big clubs in London and that you have multiple derbies every season, with the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham and so on?
When you join a new club, rivalries are always a new thing to you. So, for example, the last club I played for, Leicester, when I joined, I didn’t realise how big of a derby Leicester and Nottingham Forest was. And then you grow to learn about it, and get a feel for it amongst the city, and it’s the same with joining Spurs. Obviously, the North London derby is a big one, which I think everyone knows about. When the games come around, you feel the build up around the city and among the people and the media. You get more of a feel once you’re involved in the fixture. Like I said, the North London derby is the one that sticks right out in my mind. That’s the one.
Can you give me a sense of how intense this rivalry is between Spurs and Arsenal?
I think the one thing that you must grasp between derbies and rivalries, is how your supporters feel. Since I joined the club, it’s been made very clear by fans you bump into locally on the streets or in the stadium or anywhere else, that this derby means a lot to them. A lot of people who live around here in North London are divided in their families. They are split by this rivalry, and that’s what football does to people. So, firstly, we know what it means to them, and how big it is to them. How literally one game can affect bragging rights within families. And it starts with the build-up to the game, media interviews, talking about the game ahead.
My first experience of it last year was at the Emirates. It was on a Super Sunday, and it was just huge. I never did as many interviews as I did before a game. And on game day, it just had that different feel. Arriving at the stadium, feeling the tension. It was the same in the other one as well. Really looking forward to the one coming up. It’s just a big, big, historic rivalry.
What did your teammates say to you before you played your first North London derby? Did they have any advice for you?
I don’t think I needed it, to be honest. I love football. I’ve watched football my whole life. I knew exactly what the North London derby meant to the people. The other rivalries, like the ones against West Ham and Chelsea, I didn’t know much about it and how much these games meant to our fans, but I don’t think the North London derby needed any explaining. Watching it on TV and watching all these historic games in the past, you understand what it means. Even in the build-up, there’s always a different feel. No player sat down with me and had a chat with me about a specific game. You can feel the magnitude of the game already when you are preparing for the game.
Ange Postecoglou is no stranger to big derby games. Did the manager have any big words or speeches to give ahead of a North London derby?
Ange is very good at motivating and is good at giving speeches. He is good at that anyway, for any game. So, it’s about getting the balance right of building up the derby and understanding what this game means to our fans is very important. But also, not taking it too far, and trying to treat it like a normal game and to focus on just doing our job.
The gaffer came from Celtic, and the Celtic and Rangers derby is one of the biggest in the world in terms of rivalries, so he knows exactly what it means to manage a rivalry and a derby game. So he is very good in those situations, very calm and gets his message across well.
What was it like stepping on to the pitch for your first North London derby last season?
I just remember being very excited actually. Because these are the games that when you are a kid, you kick the ball in the garden, and you imagine being a player that scored a goal in a big derby like the North London derby. They are the games that you want to be involved in as a footballer. These are the games you dream of being involved in in your football career. You dream of this moment as a kid, so I was just excited to be there and to be part of this iconic fixture. I remember saying to the lads, just enjoy the game. These are the games you will remember. These special derby games. So, not to take it for granted but also to just play your own game and relax. It’s a very fine line.
You have already been a part of some iconic moments in North London derbies, like last season, when Bukayo Saka did your darts celebration. Can you tell us a little more about that?
Well, Bukayo and I are very good friends, and we get along very well. Whenever we are together on international duty we have a great time. He’s a great kid. He’s a lovely boy and a brilliant footballer.
But I think we had an international break last season similarly to now, and it just so happened to be just before the North London derby. While we were together on international duty, we were winding each other up during training and were talking about what the derby would be like. Spurs had started the season off badly, while Arsenal started well.
We were joking with one another that we would do each other’s celebrations. It just so happened that Bukayo scored the first goal in the derby game. I think it may have gone down as an own goal eventually, but he ended up doing the darts celebration to try and wind me up. It was just a little banter between the two of us.
As a kid growing up, being a Premier League fan, do you have any North London memories you remember? Those that were iconic or stuck out for you?
I think in the early years, and it’s not nice saying this, but growing up Arsenal dominated that era. I was born in 1996; I was eight at the time. Arsenal was brilliant during that era, but us, not so much. But more recently we have had some outstanding moments. Harry Kane’s record against Arsenal is just impeccable. He has scored so many against them. Danny Rose’s volley against Arsenal was spectacular. Also, Deli Ali chipping it over the keeper at the away end at the Emirates was super iconic, so there a lot of moments that stick out.
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