Player Watch Player Watch: Dejan Kulusevski

[Timberwolf]

I watched a couple of his vs games which are a better indication than highlight reels and he often appeared to lose possession cheaply under pressure with his touch not being the best. And I see a player who wants to come inside on his left but lacks that acceleration you need to shift onto it, like Mahrez, Robben or Bale back in the day. I haven't watched much but just doesn't quite look to have the quick feet or acceleration for me, and he can look quite untidy sometimes. And then it's a question of what really is he? Doesn't quite seem like a winger, doesn't quite seem like a number 10? But what I did say and will repeat is that he's still a very young kid and there are certainly flashes of quality of that there is no doubt, perhaps he is a player that could improve a lot and evolve into a number 10, especially with the good attitude to work he appears to have.

I'm happy it's a loan with option and not a permanent deal for now.

I've watched a few of those compilations as well and maybe I just picked better games, but to me his touch looks fine. He's certainly not silky and has the occasional clumsy moment, but by and large it didn't strike me as something to be concerned about and is better than plenty of our current first 11 (not saying much, admittedly).

In terms of his style, he strikes me as a proper grafter. He's not a winger or a conventional no.10 but rather an industrious wide forward, which is how I think we intend to use him. His effectiveness comes from his vision, body strength, industry and a sweet left foot. He's not going to rinse defenders with speed and skill but he'll harry players off the ball, arrive in space to finish moves, use the ball intelligently and score the odd worldie. He's almost like the complete opposite of Lucas, which I quite like as it provides us with a different option in that RWF position.

I would hope that if we have pace around him in Son, Reguilon, Lucas (a quick RWB would be massive) then his lack of it won't be a problem - although I wouldn't call him slow as he's a strong runner when he gets going. In the premier league pace is important so maybe you're right and his lack of it will be a problem, but hopefully his other strengths can make up for it.

 

[BorisLloris]

An interesting geography update from the Standard...

"Kulusevski, who also arrives from Juventus, joins on loan for the next 18 months for a fee of £8.4m.

The Swedish winger has been confirmed for the No21 shirt at Tottenham Stadium, a number most recently donned by fellow South Americans Juan Foyth and Federico Fazio."

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/tottenham-squad-numbers-kulusevski-bentancur-b979919.html

 

[Hakkz]

An interesting geography update from the Standard...

"Kulusevski, who also arrives from Juventus, joins on loan for the next 18 months for a fee of £8.4m.

The Swedish winger has been confirmed for the No21 shirt at Tottenham Stadium, a number most recently donned by fellow South Americans Juan Foyth and Federico Fazio."

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/tottenham-squad-numbers-kulusevski-bentancur-b979919.html

Didn't know I had latin blood. ?

 

[karennina]

Wonder if he'd work for us as the most advanced of a midfield 3, where he has played, or as a Number 10 behind two strikers, to transition the ball from halfway and then find the right pass.

Only Kane reliably does this, but perhaps Kulu could allow him to play further forward.

 

[Freddie]

Great memories for him. Nightmare for Romero and Gollini!

This seems to be a decent summary of him as a player. A bit messy and cumbersome at times, gets the weight/direction of simple passes frustratingly wrong, but can produce the odd bit of class or just bundle his way through a defender. On a bad day he can look very bad. On a good day he'll make a massive nuisance of himself and produce moments of class like that goal. Can see why certain managers would like him. He'll do a job for Conte similar to Willian's at Chelsea, albeit slightly different players.

 

[mil1lion]

Love the look of his tenacity. Looks to be really well suited to the inside forward role of a Conte team. I don't see him as a starter yet because Moura is doing well with Son and Kane. What he does is give us better competition and a better fit for inside forward. The 2 who could possibly fill in that inside right were Lo Celso and Gil but neither are convincing. I think Bergwijn at a push but looks more comfortable on the left. Kulu is more suited to the physical side of the league than Gil and looks to have more end product than Gio. There's a lot of talk about squad depth but he will probably play more than Gil and Lo Celso put together and Ben will play more than Dele and Ndombele together. Both are far better fits for Conte so it's like replacing 4 square pegs for 2 holes with 2 round pegs. Not great at analogies.

 

[mark87]

I wonder if he can play as the 1 behind the top 2 in a 3412 formation, that way he can play in the position he looked most effective when he was at Parma and also help out in centre mid if the two are being overrun. And it'll also be close to the 352 formation that was so successful for Conte at Inter.

 

[taidgh]

Someone mentioned the no limits tune for him so ive got a good one to the tune of no limits but trying to fine it.

By the way he does look liek Eriksen. Like his damn face. Very Eriksen.

drinking at this stage of the evening, were we?

 

[Timberwolf]

'A monster' Expert analysis on Tottenham new boy Dejan Kulusevski

Expert analysis from Nima Tavallaey Roodsari on Tottenham new boy Dejan Kulusevski after he completed a deadline day move to north London.

www.101greatgoals.com

 

[yawa]

I wonder if he can play as the 1 behind the top 2 in a 3412 formation, that way he can play in the position he looked most effective when he was at Parma and also help out in centre mid if the two are being overrun. And it'll also be close to the 352 formation that was so successful for Conte at Inter.

there’s an interview on teamtalk where he says that’s he’s best/preferred position

 

[dtxspurs]

I wonder if he can play as the 1 behind the top 2 in a 3412 formation, that way he can play in the position he looked most effective when he was at Parma and also help out in centre mid if the two are being overrun. And it'll also be close to the 352 formation that was so successful for Conte at Inter.

Transfermarkt has him playing RW 29 games that season.

 

[SpartanSpur]

'A monster' Expert analysis on Tottenham new boy Dejan Kulusevski

Expert analysis from Nima Tavallaey Roodsari on Tottenham new boy Dejan Kulusevski after he completed a deadline day move to north London.

www.101greatgoals.com

Got a really good feeling about this lad.

 

[djhotspur]

Got a really good feeling about this lad.

Same. More than I have of bentacur

 

[SpartanSpur]

Same. More than I have of bentacur

I think Bentancur will be a solid if not spectacular player for us. This guy I think could be special. At 21 he could be a key player to build upon.

 

[thelak]

Here is a compilation of match involvements from the season he got young player of the year. As you can see from the video, had it not been Gervinho up front he would have had a bucketload more assists. His weight of pass is wonderful. He’s got everything to be a magnificent player. So excited for this signing.

Nice.
With obligatory terrible euro trance music

 

[WiganSpur]

The more I watch of him the more I hope Conte uses him in that Mezzala role in a 3-5-2. Bit of a unit, puts himself about, can beat a player, could work very well indeed.

 

[wrd]

The more I watch of him the more I hope Conte uses him in that Mezzala role in a 3-5-2. Bit of a unit, puts himself about, can beat a player, could work very well indeed.

As I was reading this I was going to ask if that is what KDB does at City and he was given as the best example

 

[Nayim60yards]

https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/ne...ski-james-horncastle-italian-football-expert/



James Horncastle, European and Italian football expert, The Athletic’s Serie A correspondent and part of the Golazzo Live and Champions League Goals Show on BT Sport, gives us the inside track on our new arrivals from Juventus, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski.

Dejan Kulusevski
James: “Dejan Kulusevski came across to Italy very young. He caught the eye of Atalanta at a number of tournaments that are held in Italy. That’s a very good youth set up at Atalanta and he was part of a group of players who were winning Under-19 championships and was a transformative player for them. The other player of that generation, if not younger, was Amad Diallo Traore, who moved to Manchester United this time last year. The expectation was that Kulusevski would become a very important player for Atalanta, but the pathway through for him was blocked, because this Atalanta side is probably the best they’ve ever had, they’ve played Champions League for three consecutive years now and Josip Ilicic, the player in front of him at the time, was arguably the best player in the league. Dejan moved to Parma on loan and that’s where he won Serie A Young Player of the Year (2019/20). I would say he single-handedly kept Parma up that season, and I don’ think it’s a coincidence that when he left for Juventus, they went down. They couldn’t find a player in their style of play who could create and score the goals he did from his position. Dejan is a very versatile player, with the athleticism to play in the Premier League. There is no doubt about that, with both players. At Parma, he played off the right in a 4-3-3, he’s left footed, but when Juventus signed him, Maurizio Sarri was coach and playing in a 4-4-2 diamond, and the expectation was that Kulusevski would either play wide right or as a number 10. With Antonio Conte, he provides options in the 3-4-3/3-5-2 system. At Juventus, he could cover for Juan Cuadrado on the right, cover for Paulo Dybala just off the striker, cover for Federico Chiesa on the left, so he’s a player who can cover a lot of bases in attack. Parma were a counter-attacking side under Roberto D'Aversa, he had Gervinho on the left, Kulusevski on the right. They would defend deep, and it was up to one of those players to carry the ball forward and create - Dejan was very affective at that. He will be a very important player on transitions.”

 

[holmesy]

He’ll play off the right IMO cutting in on his left…..opens up space for wingbacks, just like sonny does on the left….

don’t see him playing a 10 role considering conte doesn’t seem to favour this and evidenced in the fact he’s just agreed to. Let out 3 natural number 10s leave the club…

 

[djhotspur]

He’ll play off the right IMO cutting in on his left…..opens up space for wingbacks, just like sonny does on the left….

don’t see him playing a 10 role considering conte doesn’t seem to favour this and evidenced in the fact he’s just agreed to. Let out 3 natural number 10s leave the club…

Didn’t he play with a 10 last season in Erikson, albeit in a 3 5 2? So Kulu could play the Erikson role well.