Tottenham struggles highlighted by ‘magician’ Dejan Kulusevski
Tottenham Hotspur are compounded in their struggles of late as they laboured to a 1-1 draw against rangers at Ibrox on Thursday night.
Dejan Kulusevski labelled their upcoming Premier League clash at basement boys Southampton as “must-win” live on TNT Sports [12 December] after rolling in a second-half equaliser to cancel out Hamza Igamane’s opener.
The Swede’s goal spared the blushes to an extent of Ange Postecoglou, who arrived in a familiar city under intense pressure having earned his Spurs move via five trophies in two years with Celtic.
Kulusevski has been one of Tottenham’s brighter sparks of late, but has also shown deficiencies consistent with his team’s underperformance.
His form has to an extent absolutely saved his club, much to the praise of pundits including a recent view from Joe Cole, who branded the winger a “magician” [TNT Sports, 28 November] after their previous Europa League outing against Roma.
Dejan Kulusevski is a mixed bag for Tottenham
Tottenham fans are always cautious in the way they enjoy any good feeling at their club, as like with their results, it comes with a catch.
Right now, Kulusevski is indicative of a squad with all the talent but naivety and inconsistency in equal measures.
The winger has been a driving force in creating opportunities this season for Spurs, having come on at the break for the maligned Timo Werner to create three chances at Ibrox, and in the Premier League has averaged 2.68 chances created per 90 minutes this term [Fotmob].
The same data also shows a long ball accuracy of 70 percent as Spurs seek quick and direct upfield pressure from the back, but then begins to curve when his bleak pass accuracy of 80.7 percent in 2024-25 shows sometimes the risks in Postecoglou’s style of attacking play do not always pay off.
There appears to be a real contrast in what Kulusevski specialises in and where he falters, which is a wider Tottenham problem. For instance, as illustrated by FBRef, the 24-year-old outranks 85 percent of fellow wingers and forwards for both tackles and progressive passes, the former especially crucial when he is dispossessed as much as he and his teammates are.
However, with only an average of 0.23 aerial duels won per 90 minutes in the past year, and 0.29 clearances made, he has little effect with defensive work in his own half of the pitch. His wider pass accuracy compounds that, having in the past 365 days succeeded with only 73.5 percent of his attempts to find a teammate – this ranks in the lowest 8 percent when compared to midfielders in the top five leagues, and lowest 35 percent compared to forwards.
At 24, Kulusevski has made positive strides to the point he should now be a regular starter for Tottenham. He made the biggest impact by far at Rangers on Thursday and needs to be in from the start at Southampton to look to save his boss once again.
But there are vast improvements that must be made to certain elements of his play, which could in time mould him into one of Europe’s elite. And Spurs must match his own progress to avoid losing him.
In other Tottenham news, the club are linked with a player familiar to rivals Arsenal through a certain connection.
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