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James Maddison has praised Tottenham Hotspur's worldwide fanbase during the club's pre-season tour stop in Sydney, where they face A-League side Sydney FC and Chelsea in the coming days.
"It's amazing. We're followed so brilliantly worldwide," Maddison told local media on Tuesday. "Sometimes it wows you when you arrive and you actually see the support. We're so far away from home, we've travelled so far, but the support is just amazing."
Tottenham face Sydney FC at the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday before taking on Chelsea at the Accor Stadium on Saturday. Both matches kick off at 10.45am UK time.
Maddison, who joined the club in the summer of 2023, noted it is the first time Spurs have visited Sydney in over a decade — the previous occasion was a post-season trip in May 2015. He said fans had already travelled from other parts of Australia to meet the squad on arrival.
The midfielder framed the tour primarily as preparation for the new Premier League season, with Tottenham's opening fixture scheduled against Brentford on 22 August. "It's a big season for us under a new manager," Maddison said. "We need to be better than the last couple of seasons."
Maddison also described the new manager's approach as heavily attack-oriented. "He loves everything with the ball, very attacking. I'm really excited," he said, adding that the squad is still in the process of learning the manager's principles.