In an interview in 2019, Dejan Kulusevski reflected on having improved the defensive side of his game, something he had previously cited as a “weakness”.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has only worked with the Swede since last summer, but feels his defensive capabilities have come on further still in that time.
“Today he had to show some other facets of the game, some defensive work, which I thought he did well,” Postecoglou said of Kulusevski after Spurs blew West Ham away in with a 4-1 win on Saturday.
Kulusevski has started captaining Sweden this year and he has taken on new responsibilities with Tottenham too, with Postecoglou moving the 24-year-old from the wing to a central attacking midfield position.
It has proved a masterstroke. Kulusevski has been reborn in the centre of the park, delivering another outstanding performance on Saturday, including scoring a first-half equaliser which started the comeback.
His greatest contribution was not the long-distance strike which crept in via the post but rather his ability to wriggle out of the close attention of West Ham’s physically robust midfielders.
His fleet-footedness was too much for Guido Rodriguez and Tomas Soucek to cope with. They were not the first and will not be the last to be left in his wake this season.
“The evolution of Deki as a player [means] that [midfield] is now his role not just for us but for the national team too”, Postecoglou explained. “He's got this ability to get out of tight spaces and he's a really strong runner. He is relentless in his running capacity.”
No kidding. The stats serve to show Kulusevski is now being deployed exactly where he should be, and where he can have the most influence on matches.
He has made more key passes, progressive runs, and accelerations than any player in Europe this season.
But his manager still demands more. “In that final third, I still think we can get more goals and assists out of him,” said Postecoglou. “But he is constantly in those threatening areas and he's been outstanding for us all year.”
Postecoglou has called his side one of the best pressing teams on the continent, and Kulusevski’s unrelenting work-rate is proving an important ingredient.
“That is the stuff we have to keep focusing on so that what happened at Brighton doesn't happen again.”
Speaking as a pundit for TNT Sports after the match, Glenn Hoddle called Kulusevski’s display against West Ham his best in a Spurs shirt.
Hoddle feels a fair arbiter of what to look out for from an attacking midfielder. Kulusevski is thriving.
