Tottenham’s standout player in their six pre-season games by quite some distance, the Swede unfortunately did not make the starting XI and instead had to settle for a place on the bench due to Postecoglou now having the strength in depth he has always wanted in N17. Playing the vast majority of his Spurs career on the right-wing following his move from Juventus, the Stockholm-born ace operated in his preferred central role in the team’s summer friendlies and flourished in the process.Kulusevski even led the line for Tottenham in four of their six games due to the absence of a striker and Son Heung-min barely having an impact in the position when starting there against Hearts and QPR. Heavily involved in a number of pre-season goals and even helping himself to a couple in their last warm-up match against Bayern Munich, the 24-year-old looked a shoo-in to start in the Premier League opener against leciester.
Ange Postecoglou made quite the statement with his Tottenham team to take on Leicester City on Monday evening. The manager was always going to have to deliver the bad news to a number of his players that they would not be involved in the starting XI or possibly even the matchday squad, and Dejan Kulusevski was one of those to get the news he did not want to hear.
Tottenham’s standout player in their six pre-season games by quite some distance, the Swede unfortunately did not make the starting XI and instead had to settle for a place on the bench due to Postecoglou now having the strength in depth he has always wanted in N17. Playing the vast majority of his Spurs career on the right-wing following his move from Juventus, the Stockholm-born ace operated in his preferred central role in the team’s summer friendlies and flourished in the process.
Kulusevski even led the line for Tottenham in four of their six games due to the absence of a striker and Son Heung-min barely having an impact in the position when starting there against Hearts and QPR. Heavily involved in a number of pre-season goals and even helping himself to a couple in their last warm-up match against Bayern Munich, the 24-year-old looked a shoo-in to start in the Premier League opener against Leicester.
Never going to start up front at the King Power Stadium with new signing Dominic Solanke now in the team following his big-money transfer from Bournemouth, Brennan Johnson also got the nod over Kulusevski on the right flank and James Maddison was preferred to his teammate in midfield. Kulusevski was one of a quadruple substitution to enter the fray with 11 minutes left on the clock, with the quartet then getting a further nine minutes in the tank due to the amount of stoppage time added on following Rodrigo Bentancur’s injury that forced him off the pitch.
Kulusevski did try to make things happen in the closing stages as he took the game to Leicester when in possession after Jamie Vardy had cancelled out Pedro Porro’s goal. He also contributed at the other end of the pitch with a big tackle in his own box after sprinting the length of the field to help out his teammates.
Many will agree that Tottenham are a better team for having Kulusevski on the pitch, with the player’s quality on the ball and eye for a pass able to help open teams up. The issue now facing Postecoglou is trying to find a role for the Sweden international in his Tottenham side.Interesting but not surprising that Brennan Johnson starts ahead of Dejan Kulusevski out on the right for Spurs.
I think he’s the natural fit for what Postecoglou wants in that role.