James Maddison, a key player for Tottenham, was removed from the game at half-time against West Ham.

At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, all eyes were on James Maddison as he was surprisingly substituted at half-time during Tottenham's Premier League game against West Ham. It seemed to be a tactical decision made by Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou, rather than any injury concerns for Maddison.

The game started off in favor of West Ham, with Mohammed Kudus scoring the first goal of the match from Jarrod Bowen's cross. However, 10 minutes before half-time, Dejan Kulusevski equalized for Tottenham after receiving the ball from Maddison and scoring from the edge of the box, beating West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

But things took an unexpected turn during the half-time break when Maddison was replaced by Pape Sarr. Some speculated that it might have been due to a knock that Maddison had just before the interval, but TNT Sports commentator Darren Fletcher confirmed that it was a tactical decision made by Postecoglou.

Fletcher said, "You would think, I'm guessing, he's taken a slight knock, but I've just been told there is no injury to Maddison. It's a tactical decision from the Spurs manager."

During the break, both Postecoglou and West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui must have given their teams some strong words of motivation because Tottenham came back with a bang in the second half. They scored three goals in just 15 minutes, taking a commanding 4-1 lead.

Reacting to Postecoglou's decision to substitute Maddison, co-commentator Ally McCoist commented, "He was quite quiet, wasn't he? Clearly Ange was expecting more from him and he's thought enough is enough at half-time."

Former Tottenham striker Peter Crouch also shared his thoughts, saying, "I was surprised at first. But you can see Kulusevski is keeping much higher and he's got two players behind him now for more protection. What you'll see now is Kulusevski in a much freer role."

Maddison, who was watching from the bench, must have felt a mix of disappointment and determination to prove himself in the second half. But he could only watch as Tottenham's Yves Bissouma and Jean-Clair Todibo scored two more goals, putting them ahead by two goals.

The final blow came from Tottenham's Son Heung-min, who scored the fourth goal of the game, securing a comfortable win for his team. It was a remarkable turnaround for Tottenham, who were trailing in the first half but came back stronger in the second half.

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