Dejan Kulusevski is flourishing in Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham midfield after taking some important steps in his career
It probably does not come as that much of a shock that Dejan Kulusevski is now an influential figure in Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham team. After all, the 24-year-old has had a number of distinguished teammates in the past to learn from.
Playing for Sweden alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic and also Harry Kane in a Tottenham shirt, Kulusevski was also a teammate of Cristiano Ronaldo during his time with Juventus. The duo only spent one season playing alongside each other for the Bianconeri but it was enough for the youngster to study the Portuguese star closely and also take on his tips and advice.
Something Ronaldo told a young Kulusevski at Juventus didn’t make sense at the time but the Spurs ace now fully understands the meaning of the 39-year-old’s message.
“To not be satisfied with being good, but to be the best every day,” said Kulusevski at a Sweden press conference (as reported by Fotboll Skanalen) when asked about his strong start to the season and new thinking. “That’s the only thing that matters. As hard as it is to try to be the best.
“I think that you learn over time, that you begin to understand much more about how the world and the brain work. You can’t be 17 and know everything.
“Yes, I always change. I’m starting to get to know my body. When I was younger, I didn’t understand when [Cristiano] Ronaldo told me: “You will get to know your body”. Because I didn’t know my body then.
“But now I’m starting to understand my strengths and weaknesses, how I can improve. So I feel like everything is getting easier. I know how to train the day before a match, two days before a match, what to do when I’m tired and so on. All the little details that in the end make a big difference.”
Kulusevski is now making a big difference on the pitch for Tottenham as part of Postecoglou’s midfield three. Delivering some outstanding showings in the opening month of the campaign, the Swede wowed everyone watching on in the recent 3-0 win over Manchester United as he delivered a midfield masterclass.
The Stockholm-born player wreaked havoc on Erik ten Hag’s men as he created an incredible nine chances for Tottenham during his playing time. It was a huge match in Kulusevski’s young career and one that demonstrated to all just how dominant he can be.
“It [being a protagonist] came out in that match, but I have worked incredibly hard to be able to play at that level. I’m not shocked. I’ve just been waiting for it. Every match has felt good, but that one was perhaps extra good,” he explained.
“I want to try to maximize this career as much as possible and never be one of the crowd. It has been the whole season. I really feel that I am stronger mentally and physically this season.
“I have changed the ‘mindset’ a bit. I think that is to my advantage. I have grown off the pitch as well. The plan is to get better every day, and I feel that I am becoming that.”
On his midfield berth after previously always playing from the right flank, he added: “In the end it was enough to play on the edge. I think I take a lot more responsibility defensively now. Maybe it was difficult to put me as ‘ten’ or ‘eight’, as I even played in Tottenham recently, before.
That would never have happened a few years ago. As a young person, you don’t think it’s important to defend. But today I know that it is at least as important to defend as to attack.”
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