Dejan Kulusevski has explained why he enjoys working with Ryan Mason in training at Tottenham but why his own sister is his harshest critic.
The 22-year-old Swede began life at Spurs in blistering fashion with goals and assists aplenty after his January loan move from Juventus last year. The second season in the Premier League has been tougher for Kulusevski, with two goals and seven assists in 30 matches but the young attacker is constantly trying to learn.
Tottenham have struggled as a team this season and that brought about the exit of Antonio Conte last month. During an interview with the club last week, after surprising students from Haringey Hawks Basketball Club, Kulusevski spoke ahead of the defeat at Bournemouth about the changes to the management team with Cristian Stellini stepping up as acting head coach with Ryan Mason as his number two.
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"We always have to perform. It doesn't matter what changes. We know him, we have good contact with [Stellini] so we know him and he knows us well. He speaks with us a lot, Cristian Stellini and Ryan and we trust them a lot. I like them. We've been doing good since the change," he said.
"We had two games where we drew and then we got a good win. Now we have to keep winning. We're learning things every day and we're trying to get our energy back, get our smiles and enjoy football again, so I think they've started very well."
On Mason, the Swede added: "I like him a lot, because you know he was a player there just a couple of years ago. He knows how it is to be in our shoes. Like today, I spoke to him after the training, he was seeing something when I was shooting and trying to correct it, ask me about what I think when I shoot like that.
"It's good when you can speak with someone who knows what they're talking about because he was in your shoes a couple of years ago. He's a fantastic guy honestly."
Kulusevski went into detail about he prepares for each match and he admitted that he is not someone who wants to know all the info about the full-back who is set to mark him.
"I think it's personal. I personally don't like to watch too much information because I feel better when I don't think too much. When I am suddenly 'ok who am I playing against today?' I like that," he said. "It's a nice feeling for me, but for someone else it's more helpful if they know everything about who they are playing against. Is he fast, is he strong, is he good with the ball? Me right now in my career I prefer to have as little information as possible."
While the Tottenham attacker is often tough on himself after sub-par performances, that is nothing compared to how his sister Sandra, his only sibling, deals with him.
"She's the hardest critic. If I have a bad day she's killing me. 'You've gone soft, are you happy now?'. She's every day just pushing, but then when I play well she's like 'ok, now I've seen the real Dejan. She's very hard," he said.
"I don't like to watch my games. Maybe if I've had a fantastic game but if I see a game and I see me making mistakes I get so angry. I get so disappointed. I have to forget about it, move on to the next game and not make the same mistakes."
One player Kulusevski looks up to at Tottenham is Harry Kane, someone who he has found to be even better in the flesh than he thought from afar.
"Harry has absolutely exceeded my expectations. With the mentality, yesterday doesn't matter. 'Today I have to do my work and come in and score my goals'. I really, really enjoy playing with him, a fantastic guy and a fantastic player," he said.
"He's staying true. You don't see this in football much nowadays, one player sticking to one team for many years. You have to respect that absolutely."
What does the young Swede want from the remaining matches of the season at Tottenham?
"All wins, a lot of goals, a lot of assists, all smiles, that would be fantastic. That's what we're striving for and that's what we have to do," he said.
"It's important to finish off the season strongly and then next season we have to find new ways and do it even better."
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