Maddison says ‘Spursy’ tag is ‘rubbish’ and says they are going in ‘different direction’

James Maddison believes Tottenham could be on course to ditch their ‘Spursy’ tag after coming from behind twice against Arsenal.

Spurs sealed a 2-2 draw against the Gunners in a thrilling north London derby at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal took the lead through Cristian Romero’s own goal before Heung-min Son equalised on the approach to half-time.

Bukayo Saka put the Gunners back in front early in the second half only for Son to score again just a minute later.

The result sees Spurs continue their unbeaten start to the season as they sit fourth in the table, one place ahead of their arch-rivals.

A point away from home was certainly deserved and Maddison believes their recent form is sending them in the right direction.

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Speaking after the match, he said: “We’re not in there celebrating a point, I think there was a few little moments at the end especially in the dying minutes where we could have maybe won it from a set-piece.

“Richy [Richarlison] had a couple of shots, me being in and around the box, it’s fine margins at the end, you almost want to be solid where you don’t lose it at the death or you kind of want to throw at it to try and win it.

“I think winning late last week and coming back twice [today], when you hear fans and neutrals talk about Tottenham they often say like, ‘Soft, weak, they’ll bottle it, Spursy’, all that rubbish.

“I think the last couple of weeks shows that we might be going in a slightly different direction. We scored in the 98th and 101st minute against Sheffield United to win late on when it looked like it was going to be one of those days.

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“Today we go behind twice at arguably one of the best teams in the world, we pull it back and we’re still fighting right until the end. Hopefully we can continue that.”

Maddison himself enjoyed yet another fine performance for Spurs as he set up Son for both of their goals on the afternoon.

He has now taken his tally to two goals and four assists for the season so far in the Premier League.

Maddison came off late in the contest ten minutes after walking off a challenge that saw him jar his knee, however, both he and Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou were relaxed in their assessments of the severity of the knock.

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