Dejan Kulusevski ‘surprised’ by instant impact of Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou
Dejan Kulusevski admits he is “surprised” by how quickly boss Ange Postecoglou has managed to implement his ideas at Tottenham.
The Australian was hired as the full-time replacement to Antonio Conte ahead of this season, with Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason having had temporary stints last term following the Italian’s ill-fated tenure.
Spurs have made a flying start to the Premier League campaign, taking 10 points from a possible 12 and headed into the international break on the back of a 5-2 drubbing of Burnley at Turf Moor (2 September).
Kulusevski has been a regular feature on the right of a front three under Postecoglou and he was full of praise for the way the former Celtic boss has galvanised a team who finished eighth in the Premier League last term.
“I’ve been a little surprised but he’s really good. We had a very tough time at the end of last season but he has come in with really positive energy and it has gone very quickly,” he said in quotes reported by the club’s official website (8 September).
“We are a young team and everyone wants to play this way. It’s clear that all of us players have done our best to listen as much as possible.”
Entertainers
It is fair to say some in the football world had reservations about the appointment of Ange Postecoglou at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
But not for anyone who is well versed in the way he gets his teams playing an attractive brand of full-throttle, attacking football.
Perhaps some of the question marks centred on the fact Spurs were so underwhelming last season, shipping an abysmal 63 Premier League goals.
We are, of course, still very much in the infancy of the Postecoglou era but the evidence so far suggests that Spurs are in for a hell of a fun ride under the former Australia boss.
The arrival of James Maddison has been an influential factor, with the England midfielder contributing two goals and two assists from four Premier League matches this season (Fotmob).
Moreover, he is averaging 2.4 shots on target per 90 minutes, 3.5 shots in total, and created 10 chances in total.
But it is also how Postecoglou is getting the best out of players who were so anonymous last season. Take Yves Bissouma for example, a player who looks completely reborn.
Bissouma is perfect for the way Postecoglou wants his team to win back possession quickly and start fast attacks. He is averaging 2.9 successful tackles per 90 minutes and 2.9 interceptions.
In midfield, he wins back possession on average 3.7 times per 90, and while this drops to 0.8 in the final third that is accounted for by the fact his role is to gain the ball back much deeper on the pitch.
All in all the signs are extremely positive at Tottenham, and Kulusevski is right to be revelling in the feel-good factor.
In other Tottenham news, Cristian Romero proved his world-class status on international duty with Argentina.