09 October 2023 , 11:30
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James Maddison has hailed Tottenham for having the character of a "top team" after won a hard-fought game against Luton Town despite having Yves Bissouma sent off in the first half.
Tottenham head into the international break top of the league after enjoying a brilliant unbeaten start under new manager Ange Postecoglou. Maddison has been central to their success following his move from Leicester City, netting two goals and providing five assists in eight Premier League appearances so far.
Reflecting on Tottenham's win over Luton, Maddison said: "You get the same three points here as you do beating Liverpool and United at home. It's just as important. I absolutely loved the character of the lads.
"You have 38 games in a season and not every game is going pretty, scoring goals, free-flowing, 'AngeBall'. Sometimes you have to dig deep and show the grit and determination. People are always asking top teams, do they have that side to them?
"The top teams all do and we want to be a top team. I'm so happy we showed that." Maddison was also full of praise for the immediate impact Postecoglou has made, with Spurs enjoying their best start to a league campaign since the 1960-61 season where they won both the league and the FA Cup.
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However, Maddison was keen to stress that Tottenham are not the finished article yet. "We're so early into the manager's reign," he added. "We're at the start. Even in training, sometimes the messages he's giving us, it's still new, we're still working on it.
"It's not like we're three years in. When you've worked with a manager for a long time, like when I was at Leicester with Brendan (Rodgers), I had been there that long I knew what he wanted from me.
Spurs are unbeaten under Ange Postecoglou in the Premier League (Henry Browne/Getty Images)"I'd realise who we were playing at the weekend and have an idea of what my role would be at the weekend before we'd even trained or worked on it. You get that partnership and relationship. We're so early, we're still at the start of that. It's not about getting carried away.
"Of course, it's better to be up that end than the other end. Believe me, I've done both! I just want to continue that, continue working and that will leave us where it leaves us. We've played Arsenal, we've played Liverpool, we've played United.
"Coming here, it's just a different type of challenge but it's still tough. Just because you're playing Luton, it doesn't mean there is more time or more space. It's just a different challenge. I probably didn't expect us to be top of the league, unbeaten, no. Realistically you would never even guess that far ahead. You just want to start well and we're looking to continue that."