View: Spurs ace Kulusevski flying under the radar with his impressive contributions this season

Tottenham winger Dejan Kulusevski might not be swimming in goals and assists this season, but the underlying stats show how important he has been for Ange Postecoglou.

The likes of Son Heung-min, James Maddison and Micky van de Ven have all stolen the headlines for Spurs this season, and rightly so.

Son is flying with six league goals, which is bettered only by Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, Maddison has settled into life at Tottenham seamlessly and Van de Ven has built a formidable partnership with Romero that has transformed the club’s defence.

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Plaudits have also been reserved for the likes of Yves Bissouma and Destiny Udogie, leaving very little room for much Kulusevski appreciation and, on the surface at least, it doesn’t look as if he has done much to deserve it.

The Swede has scored just twice and provided no assists in the Premier League this season, and based on those surface-level stats, some might be wondering how he has continued to maintain his place, with the 23-year-old having started all eight league games so far.

However, the answer to that question is in the underlying numbers, with a deeper dive into the stats revealing that Kulusevski has actually been one of the club’s most important players this season and is crucial to the way Ange Postecoglou wants to play.

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The Sweden winger is high in the charts for a number of less glamorous statistics at this early point in the season. According to data provided by Wyscout, Kulusevski has provided the most crosses into the box (24) of any Tottenham player and has the second-highest crossing accuracy (45.83 per cent) in the entire division.

In addition to this, the former Juventus man also tops another Tottenham chart, making the most dribbles (60) at the club while also making the second most in the Premier League. This is a particularly important element of a Postecoglou player, as the Australian looks for his players to progress with the ball and keep it high in the opposition’s half.

His expert dribbling was on display during the club’s most recent win, a 1-0 victory at Luton Town.

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This phase of play starts with Kulusevski deep inside his own half, nutmegging his opponent.

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He then glides between two Luton Town players to progress with the ball into the home side’s half.

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He then finds himself with space to run into and picks out the run of Son with a perfectly weighted pass, which the South Korean, unfortunately, could not do anything with.

It isn’t just the Sweden international’s play in the wide areas that has impressed so far as he has also made the most touches (58) of any player in England’s top flight inside the opposition’s penalty box.

His number of key passes (11) is also the joint-most in the league while the total number of through balls he has provided (9) is the third highest among his club teammates.

A smart pass is defined by Wyscout as “a creative and penetrative pass that attempts to break the opposition’s defensive lines to gain a significant advantage in attack”. This is something Kulusevski has made the second most of (7) among his Spurs teammates.

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During the 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Sunday 24 September, he made one smart pass that was particularly impressive, as he spotted the run of Son and picked out a ball that not many players would have seen.

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It was a pass that played Son into a shooting position, and had it been for some more composed finishing, it could have led to the 31-year-old’s hat-trick and perhaps a North London derby victory.

As previously mentioned, progressing up the pitch is fundamental for Postecoglou, and this is something that Kulusevski is crucial for as he has made the most progressive runs (33) for Tottenham so far this season, as well as the second-highest total ball progression (103.79 metres) by runs for the club.

Finally, Kulusevski has made the second-most deep completions (24) in the league, bettered only by his teammate Maddison (29). A deep completion is “a non-cross pass that is targeted to the zone within 20 metres of the opponent’s goal”.

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An example of this also came against Arsenal. As he entered the penalty area he had Son making a run behind him.

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He picked Son out, who was able to get a pass across the box to Brennan Johnson, who saw his shot saved tremendously by David Raya.

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Kulusevski’s heatmap from the Premier League this season also demonstrates just how much ground he has covered on and off the ball, and is a real example of how pivotal he is to the side.

Therefore, the next time Kulusevski doesn’t get a goal or an assist, some Spurs fans should think more carefully before calling for him to be dropped as there is plenty more to the Swede’s game, and his presence might be missed more than people realise.

In other Tottenham news, Cristian Romero’s recent comments reaffirmed his commitment to the club.