Saturday’s conflict with Manchester Metropolis appears to be like a frightening prospect for Tottenham with out the suspended Rodrigo Bentancur and with accidents to Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven. However Dejan Kulusevski has a distinct perspective on what lies forward.
“My favourite game of the year,” he smiles to Sky Sports activities. And no marvel. Having scored in all three of his visits to the Etihad Stadium and arrange each targets in final month’s dwelling win within the Carabao Cup, few gamers can declare to have posed Pep Guardiola extra issues.
“I have such good memories from there,” provides Kulusevski. “I do know they’re one of the best. I do know they’ve been profitable the Champions League and the Premier League for a few years.
“Nevertheless it’s the place I come alive. I really feel my physique in another way in these video games. I really feel tremendous assured, realizing earlier than the sport that I’ll give an enormous efficiency. I simply let God do his work. Even when there are 5 minutes left, I do not panic. I do know it might occur within the final second.
“I really love to play the best teams.”
His equaliser within the ninetieth minute of final season’s 3-3 draw, throughout which he additionally assisted Heung-Min Son’s opener, got here after a run of three losses. A 12 months on, Spurs return in related circumstances, defeat to Ipswich having left gamers and supervisor underneath scrutiny.
The two-1 reverse was Tottenham’s fifth in 11 Premier League video games this season. Talking in a gathering room on the membership’s headquarters following his return from worldwide responsibility with Sweden, Kulusevski doesn’t shrink back from addressing the problems as he sees them.
“I think there are a couple of factors and one is here inside the training ground,” he says. “To be a champion, you have to be a champion every day. You have to give everything every day.
“I really feel we lack a little bit little bit of self-discipline when it comes to that consistency. That is what is lacking. The standard is there, the soccer is there. However you must do it day-after-day. You’ll be able to’t be pleased since you win a sport, two video games, three video games. It’s important to win each sport.
“I think these are the steps that we have to take. We have the football, but we have to get more disciplined. Maybe someone else has a different opinion, but that is mine.”
To be a champion, you must be a champion day-after-day. It’s important to give every thing day-after-day
Ange Postecoglou’s devotion to his approach of taking part in stays a topic of debate amongst supporters but it surely fits Kulusevski. The 24-year-old has excelled this season, at the same time as others have struggled.
“It’s been very nice to get to know him,” he says of Postecoglou.
“I think he’s a very good man and a very good coach. I have learned a lot from him and I agree with his playing style. That’s the way I want to play, very aggressive and always the same.
“However after all, we have now to enhance. What we’re doing isn’t sufficient. We are able to see progress in our soccer however we need to win one thing this 12 months and we have now to see outcomes too.
Dejan Kulusevski has two targets and 5 assists in all competitions this season
“It’s a challenge for us together – the manager, the players, everyone at the club – to find a way that works. A lot of things we do are perfect. Offensively, we are very good. But we have to defend a little bit better, especially conceding some easy goals from crosses.
“We now have to enhance lots on that, however I believe we are able to repair that facet of our sport and I’m having fun with working with the supervisor.
“It’s an honour for me to work with him.”
‘I’m again in my function in midfield’
The supervisor has helped get one of the best out of Kulusevski this season by transferring him from the suitable wing into midfield, the place during which he started his profession and one he relishes. Postecoglou says he’s “more engaged” when he’s “constantly involved”. Kulusevski agrees.
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Ange Postecoglou explains how Dejan Kulusevski has been re-shaped as a central participant
“I’ve been playing as a winger for the last couple of years, but I’ve never been a winger, and now I’ve come back to where I started.
“After I was younger, I at all times performed on this function, particularly at Atalanta in Italy. That is the place I performed as one of many three midfielders.
“I did really well as a winger for a couple of years and developed a lot of things in that position. But now I go back to my role.”
Dejan Kulusevski remains to be taking part in excessive up the pitch however has moved inside as a midfielder
It comes with freedom to roam – Kulusevski pops up all over the place, inspired to float – but additionally greater expectations.
“I think it was time for that,” he explains. “It was time to take the next level, because I also matured mentally, so now I know that when I play in this position, I have to make a difference.
“I get loads of freedom there. That is crucial to me. However with freedom comes duty. So, now, in each sport, I do know I’ve to make the staff rating.
“A lot of it is instinctive. That’s the way I have played all my life and it means every game can be different.
“Generally you will note me extra on the suitable, typically you will note me extra on the left. It is nothing deliberate, it is nearly deciding what’s finest for the staff at any second.”
His impact has been profound, keeping James Maddison out of the side and placing him among the best performers in the division statistically. Kulusevski ranks top for chances created. He is in the top 10 for both touches in, and passes into, the opposition box.
He has excelled off the ball too, winning possession in the final third more times than any other player and throwing himself into the task of hustling and harrying opposition midfielders.
Kulusevski’s numbers replicate his glorious kind this season
“I actually enjoy that side of it a lot,” he smiles. “Every young player hates to defend. We only want to play with the ball. But I started to love defending when I was a kid.
“After I play on this place, I’m often up towards a man who performs as a No 6, and for me it is private to not let him contact the ball. I discover that problem actually enjoyable.
“I learned it in Italy. When I was at Juventus, sometimes they played me just to mark the No 6. ‘Don’t let him touch the ball.’ All of that. Physically, I can do it, and I enjoy it.
I attempt to kill you not solely with the ball, but additionally with out the ball
“I try to kill you not only with the ball, but also without the ball. In basketball, you have to do both parts. The best players are also the best defenders. It’s not quite the same in football, but that is what I want to do. I want to do both parts of the game as well as possible.”
Kulusevski has been helped within the means of readjusting to the off-the-ball calls for of taking part in in midfield by his unimaginable stamina and working energy. Because the 2019/20 season, solely a handful of gamers have lined floor at a better fee than his 12km per 90 minutes.
“I think part of it is mental,” he explains. “But it is also genetics. When we do physical tests at the club, they always see that I have a very strong heart, so I imagine that helps me a lot.
“As soon as I get one minute of recovery time, it just fuels me up to go again. I just need to recover for a little bit, and then I have all my stamina back quite fast.
“Additionally, I work very laborious, so I believe it is a mixture of these three issues. In soccer, it is so necessary as a result of the pitch is so large.
“If you can play for 90 minutes without being tired, it helps so much. It’s a huge part of my game and a huge part of my life.”
‘If I am not the No 1, I am not doing sufficient’
The plan for his transfer again into midfield was agreed with Postecoglou in the direction of the top of final season. Kulusevski, as relentless in his pursuit of self-improvement as he’s on the pitch, used the summer season months to arrange himself, bodily but additionally mentally.
“I started doing very different work in the gym and started training even harder than before,” he explains. “I took loads of power from that coaching, however I additionally labored on the psychological facet.
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“I matured. I started focusing on the things I need to focus on, all the time. Think positively. Don’t see it as bigger than it is, because it’s just football and it’s the best thing in life.
“Stress shouldn’t exist in soccer. It is simply doing the factor that you simply love. Stress is one thing for actual life. It is for fogeys who need to ship their youngsters away and issues like that.
“So, I just try to focus on football as something fun and try to be the best I can every day, all the time looking for knowledge, asking questions and learning from great players I have played with.”
Kulusevski celebrates with team-mates Yves Bissouma and Richarlison
The work achieved throughout the latest low season was in depth however commonplace for Kulusevski.
“I always have to do that, because I’m a football nerd and I love this sport,” he says. “I feel like have this God-given talent and I have to do everything I can to make the most of it.
“I do not need to throw it away and I do not like not being a winner. I do not like not being the No 1. If I am not being the No 1, then, in my head, I am not doing sufficient.
“So, in the summer, yes, I’m having fun, but I’m always thinking about what has to change to make me better and stronger, to become more dangerous.
“Yearly you study new issues and also you get new experiences. I at all times attempt to see what I’m missing and the place I need to be, after which I simply practice more durable on what’s lacking from my sport.”
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Kulusevski helped Spurs declare a 2-1 win over Man Metropolis within the Carabao Cup
The arrival of his daughter, Leonie, in April has given him a brand new perspective in addition to recent motivation. “It has helped me a lot,” he says. “When you have a daughter, your courage just goes up.
“You’ll be able to’t be fascinated with silly issues anymore as a result of you have got a daughter who appears to be like as much as you and also you need to be her superhero. I play each sport for her. I need her to know that her father is one of the best, that her father is doing every thing he can for her.”
Becoming the best has long been Kulusevski’s footballing ambition. Recent evidence suggests he is getting closer but he knows what is required to achieve the status he craves.
“Consistency,” he says. “I believe it is the toughest factor in soccer, day-after-day, each sport. However this season has been significantly better. I can not bear in mind having a nasty sport.
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Sky Sports activities’ Ron Walker takes a take a look at the restorative energy of ‘Physician Tottenham’ forward of their conflict with Manchester Metropolis stay on Sky Sports activities
“I have been much more consistent, much better, and I think the last step for me to be up there is to score goals in every game.
“I’ve to be extra harmful. I believe I am there already when it comes to key passes. The passing has been there for the previous few years. I simply want that final step.
“I have to work a lot on my shooting, and on shooting a lot more, to try to be as dangerous as possible. I think, if I can, I have to double or triple my goal totals every year. After that, we can really talk about me being at the kind of level I want to be.”
‘My management type could be very, very constructive’
Spending time in Kulusevski’s firm, it’s straightforward to see how he has emerged as a frontrunner, captaining Sweden on the age of solely 24 and turning into an instance to his team-mates at Spurs.
“It’s going really well,” he says. “I have always been one of the youngest players but it’s different now. I’ve never been captain before, but now, suddenly, I’m captaining my country.
Kulusevski has captained Sweden in current video games
“It’s a huge responsibility and I’m taking much more responsibility here too. I have to keep learning myself, of course. But I’m up for being a leader, because I know I have to help.”
A part of his management function at Spurs includes mentoring his younger countryman Lucas Bergvall, an £8.5m signing from Djurgarden earlier this 12 months who was wished by a number of prime golf equipment.
I’m beginning to see how I can have an effect on folks with my power, with my phrases, and by pushing the suitable buttons
“It’s fun for me to give him all the tools to get as good as possible,” says Kulusevski. “I had great mentors in my life, like my father and all the players that took care of me. It’s thanks to them that I learned so much. Now, I am one of them, trying to help young players.
“I am beginning to determine it out. I see how I can have an effect on folks with my power, with my phrases, and by pushing the suitable buttons. My type could be very, very constructive. I do not care the way it’s going, I simply need you to do your finest and attempt to be free, with out placing any doorways in your approach.
Kulusevski is mentoring the 18-year-old Lucas Bergvall
“I just try to help, always. I try never to be negative, or scream at them. I don’t believe in things like that. I believe in making a player feel comfortable, and then pushing from there.
“In fact, that is solely the start. I need to win extra video games and have extra factors. Everyone knows we have now to enhance. I do not say I’ve all of the solutions, however collectively I believe we are able to do good issues.”
It’s a message value heeding as Dejan Kulusevski, Manchester Metropolis’s tormentor, goals to prepared the ground once more for Spurs on the Etihad Stadium.
Watch Man Metropolis vs Tottenham on Sky Sports activities Premier League from 5pm on Saturday; kick-off 5.30pm
