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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Dan Kilpatrick

Tottenham: Dejan Kulusevski loving life under Ange Postecoglou and sends message to Harry Kane

Dejan Kulusevski says he loves playing for Ange Postecoglou's new-look Tottenham and has revealed the head coach gave his players a rollicking at half-time of Sunday's friendly win over Shakhtar Donetsk.

Postecoglou's is working to transform Antonio Conte's counter-punching players into a side which dominates the ball and attacks at every opportunity.

The Greek-Australian was left frustrated by the final five minutes of the first half in the 5-1 thrashing of Shakhtar after they sat back, and leading to the Ukrainian side's equaliser against the run of play.

The hosts roared back after the interval, with Harry Kane finishing the game with four goals and Dane Scarlett scoring with the final kick of the match.

(PA)

"I like him a lot," Kulusevski said of Postecoglou. "Also in half-time he was very angry because we stopped playing for five minutes and you cannot be like that.

"You have to play always. Just because you're tired, you [can't] let them have the ball. Things happen like that. So I like him a lot and I'm looking forward to improving under him.

"He said [at half-time] we always have to play. Don't shoot away the ball, don't stop pressing, don't waste time. Always play, play the same and don't think about the score or the time. Just play and have fun.

"It is fun actually. I love it. You have to be physically very good, I love that too. I'm enjoying having a lot of the ball higher on the pitch. So I'm very grateful to have him.

"Last season, maybe we scored one and then we tried to protect the result. So of course we have to improve but second half was very, very good.

"Everything takes time in life. But the thing is we really really have to believe in it. It's not enough if he's trying to make us believe. We all have to do it. But we're in a good way, I think. This was the first game when we played 90 minutes. We're happy, we ran a lot. It was quite good.

"I know exactly what he wants from me. He wants me to attack the box much more when the balls are on the side and when I have the ball just go go all the time and don't care if I lose it. Just keep going."

Asked if Postecoglou wanted him to score more goals, Kulusevski added: "Exactly. We all want to score much more. When we go 1-0, we want to score the second, not back off. So we all we want to score much more.

"I always have a target but I just to play the game on the right and then everything will come. Today I did two assists: I'm very happy because usually when I start making those, the goals come after. So I'm very satisfied."

(PA)

Summer signing James Maddison twice assisted Kane, and Kulusevski believes the England playmaker will help Spurs to be more creative next season.

"When he has the ball it's amazing," Kulusevski said. "As soon as I have the ball I look for space and look to run in the space because he's very good passer. Like he did for the goal for Harry, 2-1."

Kane's future remains uncertain amid Bayern Munich's ongoing interest in the England captain and Kulusevski says it would benefit Spurs if the situation is resolved quickly.

"I think it would," he acknowledged. "On the other hand, you can only control what you can control. We players cannot do anything about it. We work our hardest, try to stay ready and the players that manage it, it's up to them.

"He scored four goals, he's unbelievable. Honestly, his mentality... I can learn from him like everybody. He just goes out and performs day in day out. He's a true professional. I'm happy I helped him score but of course we want him to stay and we'll do everything to make him stay."

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