Dejan Kulusevski must be dropped for Liverpool v Tottenham as Jamie O’Hara hits out
Dejan Kulusevski is surely now in line to be dropped to the substitutes’ bench against Liverpool after his underwhelming display as Tottenham fell 2-0 to Chelsea.
The Sweden international once again played the full 90 minutes in Thursday’s (2 May) Premier League contest, despite offering very little to Spurs for a while now.
Ange Postecoglou has started Kulusevski in back-to-back games – the other being the 3-2 loss to Arsenal – and must therefore be questioned.
Tottenham struggle in defeat to Chelsea
In the most recent of those losses, he had just one shot of any attempt at Stamford Bridge, which was blocked by an opposition player.
The 24-year-old also misplaced eight of his 38 passes [Sofascore], while he rather shockingly won just one out of 11 duels (nine per cent).
Factor in the 15 occasions he lost the ball – only two others did so more – and it is clear to see why Kulusevski is living on borrowed time.
Indeed, on a day in which no Spurs player covered themselves in glory, Jamie O’Hara singled the former Juventus player out for blame.
“He’s poor Kulusevski, ain’t he?” O’Hara said on talkSPORT [2 May, 11:49pm].
Kulusevski has his strengths, and has stood out in games this term, but his overall statistics do not make for great reading for a £26million player.
He has just nine direct goal involvements in the Premier League in 2023-24 – an average of 0.32 every 90 minutes [FBref].
Nine other Tottenham players can better that this term, with fellow attacking midfielder Brenan Johnson registering almost that double (0.63).
Kulusevski simply does not have enough of a say in games considering he is an attacking midfielder, which is further reflected in the statistics.
Dejan Kulusevski must have more attacking sway at Tottenham
As per FBref, he ranks in the bottom 21 per cent of all his positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues for shots per 90 (1.74).
The Swede is in the bottom 46 per cent, meanwhile, for expected non-penalty goals and assists combined per 90 (0.40).
That figure shows that it is not down to a lack of finishing from his team-mates or good goalkeeping, but rather Kulusevski’s own quality.
This is not to say Spurs need to sell Kulusevski, of course, but it would be surprising if Postecoglou started him against Liverpool.
Indeed, Kulusevski is among the top six per cent for progressive passes per 90 (12.34), showing he is capable of getting Spurs up the field.
Tottenham have not been good enough of late and a change of approach is needed against Liverpool this weekend.
If Kulusevski is named among the XI and Spurs lose again, questions will be asked of Postecoglou’s selection call.
In other Tottenham news, Spurs have been told they have a “massive problem” on their hands with one player.
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