Dejan Kulusevksi must be dragged off by Ange Postecoglou after first-half shocker for Tottenham v Brighton
Ange Postecoglou must drag off Dejan Kulusevski after his dreadful first-half display with Tottenham 2-0 down against Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Thursday.
Spurs were looking to climb into the Premier League top four when they took on the Seagulls in the Premier League but made hard work of their task when they fell behind to a Jack Hinshelwood goal in the 11th minute.
It could well have been worse for Postecoglou’s men when Guglielmo Vicario pulled off an unbelievable stop from Danny Welbeck just a few minutes before the opener.
The Australian will have been baffled by Brighton’s lead after Spurs grabbed all the early initiative in the opening minutes, playing some lovely fluid football until Hinshelwood’s sizzling opener.
It could well have been much worse for Spurs when Vicario came to the rescue again saving from Joao Pedro’s stinging strike after the visitors gave the ball away in a dangerous position.
It did get even worse when Pedro notched a penalty for the Seagulls after Dejan Kulusevski foolishly fouled Welbeck, pulling onto his shirt inside the Tottenham box from a corner.
It could have been 3-0 to Brighton when James Milner hit the post after a stunning strike just outside the box and Spurs’ performance will surely leave Postecoglou livid.
However, one player who will be on the end of a scathing half-time dressing down from Postecoglou will be key man Kulusevski who underwent a rare torrid half for Spurs, giving away the penalty and failing to conjure up any magic in the final third.
The Swede was ruthlessly scolded by football pundit Andy Townsend after his “lazy” and “foolish” defending, live on Amazon Prime (28 December, 7:55 pm) which gave Brighton their second goal.
He said: “It is lazy and poor from Kulusevski. That’s letting your teammates down.”
As per SofaScore, Kulusevski’s stats simply do not make for good reading, registering one key pass, losing 100 per cent of his ground duels, and failing to register a single dribble attempt as he usually does for Tottenham whilst also.
The Swede may have completed 90 per cent of his passes for the visitors but only one of them were crucial for Postecoglou, losing possession ten times as he failed to complete two of his cross attempts and also failed to hit a single shot at goal.
He was also given a yellow card for his troubles which rules him out of Sunday’s clash against Bournemouth.
Kulusevski certainly wasn’t the only one with his other attacking teammates looking bereft of confidence and ideas in the final third, including Son Heung-min and Richarlison.
However, because of his silly error giving the penalty way, the Swede certainly faces the most threat of being dragged off at half-time. He’s been absolutely woeful.
In other Tottenham news, a recent Daniel Levy decision could still pay dividends at the club after a “wild development.”