Rio Ferdinand has defended James Maddison for his cheeky response to Roy Keane after scoring Tottenham‘s winner against Manchester United on Sunday.
Maddison returned to action after missing five games due to a calf injury and capitalised on Andre Onana‘s error to tap home the only goal of the game in the 13th minute.
In the build-up, Roy Keane had suggested that Tottenham’s stars would not have been overexcited by the return of Maddison.
The England star responded by throwing fake darts, shushing the camera, said he ‘wanted to do his talking on the pitch’, and posted a TikTok video showing Keane’s criticism followed by his goal.
It comes amid a wider debate on around how expressive players should be with celebrations, with Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher both criticising Myles Lewis-Skelly for his meditation celebration mocking Erling Haaland earlier this month.
The Premier League has subsequently warned stars that they could be punished for ‘critical or mocking’ celebrations.
Rio Ferdinand praised James Maddison’s ‘personality’ after his cheeky swipe at Roy Keane
Maddison shushed the camera after scoring Tottenham’s winner against Manchester United
Keane had suggested that Maddison’s team-mates would hardly be enthused by his return
But Ferdinand clearly falls into the libertarian camp, saying on his Rio Ferdinand Presents show: ‘I love Maddison’s response. It’s sick (cool).
‘That whole scenario there is, in one sense, the life of a pundit, where you say can say something and it comes back to bite you quick. He said that only last week, and all of a sudden, this week, Maddison scores the winner against Man United.
‘It’s the best response you can get from the player. It’s set up perfectly for Maddison, gets a tap-in, wins the game, plays well, and he’s well within his rights to make his response o’ social media and he’s done it in a beautiful way.
‘One of him or his team have stitched it together and he’s said, “yeah, thanks for that, Roy.”
‘You know what I like? It’s a bit of humour, it’s a little bit of personality, what we all cry out for.
‘I don’t want to keep going on about this, but I have to, to go back to that point about: “oh, it’s out of order the way that so-and-so celebrated.” Let anyone express themselves when they score a goal and it’s a moment in the game because that’s what we pay to see.
‘You can’t pick and choose when you want someone to be a bit volatile or show a bit of personality. You can’t pick and choose.
‘Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, the lot of you, whoever else. Gary Neville when he was doing that with his badge when I scored at Old Trafford against Liverpool, last minute, he didn’t even come to me, he went to the Liverpool fans! And was doing that to Liverpool fans.
Ferdinand also jokingly took aim at Gary Neville for ‘tasteless’ criticism of players’ celebrations
Myles Lewis-Skelly was roundly criticised for his celebration mocking City star Erling Haaland
‘The biggest iconic picture in his life. I scored and he didn’t come celebrate with me, and he’s telling people to calm down. It’s tasteless. Love it, Gaz.’
Maddison’s goal was enough to see United condemned to their 12th defeat of the Premier League season.
In the build-up, former United captain Keane had taken a swipe during an episode of Gary Neville’s Overlap podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
‘Maddison isn’t bad, when he’s not at the darts,’ said Keane. ‘But let me tell you, if you think he’s going to come back and get Spurs into the top six, you’re in cuckoo land.
‘He’s good, he’s a talented player, but if you’re a player in the Spurs dressing room and Maddison’s back in the squad, you wouldn’t be looking and going, oh Jesus he’s back today, we’re going to be fine.’
After scoring the decisive goal and his 10th of the season, Maddison told Sky Sports: ‘Just a little bit of outside noise wasn’t there this week?
‘People have their opinions. I wanted to do my talking on the pitch. There will be a certain few enjoying me being the match winner.
‘The gaffer he always talks about blocking the outside noise but it’s difficult. It’s in your face with social media, et cetera. You see it and it’s there, especially when it’s a high-profile name.’
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