Presser points | Spurs vs Bodo/Glimt | James Maddison

James Maddison spoke to the media on Wednesday ahead of our UEFA Europa League semi-final, first leg against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday evening. Here’s a look at some of the things he had to say...

Madders on the significance of Bodo/Glimt tie

“It’s huge. When you get to the end of your career and look back, there’s probably not many times any player has been in a European semi-final. Maybe once, twice, a few times if you’re lucky, if you’re at the real big clubs. We have to use the fact that we’re in the final four of a massive competition in Europe and use that as motivation to have a great tie on Thursday and away in Bodo as well the following Thursday, because we’ve got a really special opportunity. There’s obviously been a lot of talk about the form and it being quite a poor season but we still have the opportunity to do something very special. We’re in the last four of a European competition and we’ve earned that, you don’t just get placed there. We deserve to be here so it’s a challenge we’re going to relish. It starts on Thursday night.”

Madders on putting domestic results to one side

“It’s a balancing act and I guess it’s part of my role a little bit as a senior player. You want to feel the hurt and the embarrassment of how Sunday went because losing 5-1 in any game is a little bit embarrassing and Liverpool obviously won the Premier League on the day, so it was a very negative day for us as a club, but my job as a senior player I feel is to not accept the fact that we were poor and we can’t go forward like that, because the league is important – it gives you the momentum to take into Europe, but also just trying to put it to one side and I said that in my post-match interview, especially because we have a lot of young players, you need positivity. You want them to be feeling good and ready to go into Thursday. If we’re dwelling on Sunday for too long, it’s a quick turnaround, it’s only a few days’ preparation. So yeah, trying to get them feeling positive again and get a nice feel about the group. So like I said it’s a balancing act. You want to feel the hurt of Sunday but it’s a quick turnaround so it’s my job as a senior player to get the positivity back into us as a group so we’re ready for Thursday and can go in confident.”

Madders on Mathys Tel

“He’s been very good since he’s come in, I think. When he first came in, we had a few injuries, so he was playing as a number nine and he’s played off the left as well. He’s a direct player, he’s got good feet and he’s very tricky. He can definitely be someone who scores goals. Sometimes you see wide players who are goalscorers and wide players who are more one-v-one specialists. The top players have both. I think he’s definitely a goalscorer, he can be a threat on the pitch and I think he’s done well. He hasn’t played an awful amount but recently he’s been in the team more. For myself playing from that left side of midfield in central, we’ve grown a little bit more of a relationship and understanding of what sort of player he is. I know Sonny, I know what Sonny’s going to do there, what I expect from him. I think that’s grown with Matty off the left. I think there’s a really good player there.”

Madders on the Europa League being a good opportunity for success

“Yeah, definitely I feel like that. I’m very motivated to help the team have success. We got to the semi-final of the Europa Conference League with Leicester and lost to Roma over two legs. Roma went on to win the competition under Jose Mourinho and I actually remember the two legs very clearly. At the time, it was a few years ago, I probably didn’t realise the magnitude of what we were so close to being able to achieve until now. That’s what gaining experience is, I guess, right? It’s important for myself and the team that we’re ready and we don’t let any small details get in the way. It’s a very important fixture for us.”

Madders on whether there’s more pressure playing Bodo/Glimt

“I don’t think so. If you watch football, you’ve seen Bodo play over the last number of years. They’re always in Europe, aren’t they? They’re a team that pops up regularly playing in Europe. They played at United this year, they played at Arsenal, they’ve played at some of the big Italian clubs and they’ve had good results. If you’re a fan of football and you watch European football, you’ll have seen them play, definitely. We’ve obviously done some preparation on them. You talk about their population (of 50,000) but that almost adds to their unity as a club and that kind of family feel. We know it’s going to be tough. We’re not taking this game lightly at all, I can promise you that. We know it’s going to be a tough game, two legs, especially away from home but tomorrow is the home leg and we have to make them feel that.”

Madders on Ange Postecoglou

“We’re behind the manager, 100 per cent. I think he’s a great man. He’s the first person to tell you and I’ve heard it myself that we’ve had a poor season, especially in the league. We’ve been very good in Europe but the league season has probably been unacceptable and we can all take a collective responsibility for that, but he’s my manager, he’s my gaffer, and I respect him an awful amount. The narrative is something we players try and keep away from because it’s not healthy to read into what you lot are talking about the manager’s position. I just know I come into work every day and see the lads listening, taking on the messages, how he wants to play, and the coaches and trying to do what’s best for this club. And, like I said, we’re in a very good position in Europe where we can still have a special season under his management, so I’ll continue to do that until the day he isn’t here. He is my manager and I respect him an awful amount and that will continue.”

Madders on determination to reward fans

“We definitely want to them reward them for the support that they give us by creating something special because the league hasn’t been good enough, definitely. But it hurts us as well, let’s not create the narrative that… yes, it’s us players out there and we take responsibility for that. But it hurts me a lot that we’re having a poor season. But this is why we’re so motivated for this competition because the season can still be so special. People talk all the time about Tottenham being without silverware for however many years, but we’re in the last four and we’ve got a great opportunity in a competition we’ve been pretty solid in this year. Okay, maybe I worded it a little bit wrong, but we want to reward them because we feel the support. At the end of games and we’ve lost again, you go over and you want to thank them for the support and I know they don’t want to hear it. Even this press conference and the interview on Sunday, they’re not really that bothered because words are just words. But it hurts and we’re trying to put it right. That’s the main thing, that the hunger is there. That’s just life, it doesn’t always work how you want it to, but this is a unique situation that we’re in in the last four in Europe when we can go and reward them for their support because they do travel everywhere. We are very grateful for that, even in the league position we’re in and we’ve got nothing to play for, they’re still selling out Liverpool away and we do appreciate that. They are supporting us. It hurts us as well. The message I’m trying to get across here is that we’re not satisfied as well. We’re in this together.”

Madders on Lucas Bergvall’s development

“He was very keen to start with – he was very enthusiastic, like a little bee! He was just everywhere – on the pre-season tour you would turn the corner and he was just there, happy. I guess that’s the youthfulness of him. He’s a brilliant player and a fantastic talent, Tottenham have done amazingly well to get him to the club and to get him to sign a new contract which is brilliant for everyone at the club. He’s got some learning to do within the game, I guess, but he’s so young that that is fine. What he will have learned as well without even realising it… his journey this season which has just gone like that – it’s not been a gradual trajectory because of injuries and it’s been earned because of his performance. He will have learned so much that next season he will be in a much better place in terms of what he has learned from the Premier League. When he first came in, he was a big strong boy but I don’t think his body was up to the intensity of the league that we all know very well. Once he got to grips with that from playing so much because of the injuries, he has probably caught up quicker than you would have expected. But the talent is there and he’s a great boy, he’s a good kid, he’s got a good head on his shoulders. He always means well and is always willing to learn. I always try and help him as much as I can because anyone who is willing to learn, you want the best for. He’s not someone who has come in, got straight into the team and tried to have himself a little bit. He’s kept grounded and he’s actually growing – I hear him demanding of other players and I love that. I love that he is in a place now where he is confident enough to be able to say to an older player, ‘come on’. I think that has obviously come from this season and the experience. He has a great future.”

Watch | James Maddison's pre-Bodo/Glimt press conference