Player Watch Player Watch: Dejan Kulusevski

[Mr Pink]

Yet again not ‘incredible’ last night.

Works hard, absolutely but needs to still do a bit more for me.

Well he's better than Park Ji Sung...thats for sure lol.

Yes he messed up one attack, but other than that he was very good second half.

 

[Mr Pink]

And people have to understand how hard this guy works and its lazy to say he's the same as Richy in this regard

Richy works hard but loses the ball a lot more than Kulu.

Kulu's work rate is extremely effective for us and is a big factor as to why we"re so hard to beat.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Well he's better than Park Ji Sung...thats for sure lol.

Yes he messed up one attack, but other than that he was very good second half.

I don’t know why you’re saying that about Park so dismissively the guy is a champions league winner and was a very effective player.

Kulu is a bit more creative and has more potential still being young and is taller and stronger but Kulu has 9 goals 15 assists in around 60 PL games, park played 150 and got 25 goals 25 assists in mostly sub appearances, it’s not groundbreakingly different.

I like Kulu, all I’m saying is at times he needs to do a bit more and at times we suffer because of his lack of pace, good player sure but I think he can improve and I’d like to see us give Johnson a go there but nice he’s fully fit and see how he compares, but good to have both options for different types of defences.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

And people have to understand how hard this guy works and its lazy to say he's the same as Richy in this regard

Richy works hard but loses the ball a lot more than Kulu.

Kulu's work rate is extremely effective for us and is a big factor as to why we"re so hard to beat.

That I absolutely agree with. Although I wouldn’t say it’s ‘lazy’ to compare him to Richy as both are big and physical and work very hard which is really important in this system, I agree though that Richy gives the ball away a bit more often yes.

 

[tooey]

In last night's match thread people saying we can upgrade on Deki, is that a wide spread belief?
I'm genuinely surprised by this he is a quality player. He isn't flashy but there's a reason he's never taken off his work ethic is unreal. He has a great relationship with Porro on the right. He is also a very real option to go up front like he did against Luton if we need someone to hit up top and run a defence.
He is not lightning quick but he is so physically strong as a runner he gets away from defenders using his strength and skill.
There's a number of starters I would be looking to upgrade before him.

The quesiton you posed (to me) was can we upgrade on him. Of course we can. He's not in that bracket of elite wingers quite yet. That doesn't mean I don't rate him, he's a good player who works his arse off, I just don't particularly like our balance out wide with both him and Richy starting.

 

[keithtighe93]

I think he is great, but of course he can improve his production.

His ball rentention, intelligence and general play is really good, as is his effort and attitude.

I don’t think he lacks ability, but he can improve his end product.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

I think he is great, but of course he can improve his production.

His ball rentention, intelligence and general play is really good, as is his effort and attitude.

I don’t think he lacks ability, but he can improve his end product.

This.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

The quesiton you posed (to me) was can we upgrade on him. Of course we can. He's not in that bracket of elite wingers quite yet. That doesn't mean I don't rate him, he's a good player who works his arse off, I just don't particularly like our balance out wide with both him and Richy starting.

Agree with this completely. I don’t think anyone is saying Kulu is a bad player and Richy is certainly the weaker winger by some significant distance. But we have to look at the squad in relation to what we want to achieve. If we are actually hoping to challenge for honours every year then for me, on current form, he’s not quite good enough to be a starter.

Im not even saying we should drop him, after all Brennan and Gil are still completely untested and we have no idea what, if anything, they can bring to the table. But unless he goes up a level (which to be fair he could) then I’d be looking to upgrade and keep Kulu as a hard working rotation option.

Personally I think we need to be taking the Liverpool approach when it comes to building our forward line Ie having a number of top quality players rotating in.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

In last night's match thread people saying we can upgrade on Deki, is that a wide spread belief?
I'm genuinely surprised by this he is a quality player. He isn't flashy but there's a reason he's never taken off his work ethic is unreal. He has a great relationship with Porro on the right. He is also a very real option to go up front like he did against Luton if we need someone to hit up top and run a defence.
He is not lightning quick but he is so physically strong as a runner he gets away from defenders using his strength and skill.
There's a number of starters I would be looking to upgrade before him.

I agree with a lot of what you say. But I slightly lose you on the last sentence.

I think LW and RW are (currently) the starters, being Richy and Deki, that are most at threat/in need of an upgrade.

I can see Johnson taking one of their slots fairly soon. Likely Richy

 

[djhotspur]

In last night's match thread people saying we can upgrade on Deki, is that a wide spread belief?
I'm genuinely surprised by this he is a quality player. He isn't flashy but there's a reason he's never taken off his work ethic is unreal. He has a great relationship with Porro on the right. He is also a very real option to go up front like he did against Luton if we need someone to hit up top and run a defence.
He is not lightning quick but he is so physically strong as a runner he gets away from defenders using his strength and skill.
There's a number of starters I would be looking to upgrade before him.

Yeah he has some good characteristics but he is upgradeable.
It was his worst game last night imo he made the wrong decision so many times, created next to nothing. I know a lot of the team were off it but he needs to start producing more.

 

[chas vs dave]

I thought he was OK, the wingers have to stay high and wide in anges system, which meant he didn't see a lot of the ball.

Palace did a number on us.

 

[coy-spurs1882]

people seem to forget what he can do, as long as he regain his form when he arrived he would be fine

 

[hughy]

I think we can have one of our front three who works hard for the team but produces low numbers in terms of goals/assists, but definitely not two. Deki would be my preference over Richarlison.

For me I'd put Johnson in with Son and Deki for a few games and see how we get on. From the little we've seen of Johnson I think he can put up much better numbers than Richarlison, and seems a much smarter player than I expected in regards to his link-up play.

 

[djhotspur]

I think we can have one of our front three who works hard for the team but produces low numbers in terms of goals/assists, but definitely not two. Deki would be my preference over Richarlison.

For me I'd put Johnson in with Son and Deki for a few games and see how we get on. From the little we've seen of Johnson I think he can put up much better numbers than Richarlison, and seems a much smarter player than I expected in regards to his link-up play.

Agreed and brings genuine pace to the attack.
I think next season we need a front 6 of son, Johnson, deki, solomun a genuine quality LW and maybe veliz if he develops.
Then for striker we have 3 options Johnson son veliz,
Johnson can play both wings, but would have him as RW starter/rotation,
Then a starter LW with solomun as rotation.
Then depending on the oppo we could choose a variety of options.
The new LW needs to be a quick 1v1 specialist who can actually put up g/a numbers.

 

[DannyNZ]

i think Kulu is very fortunate Solomon and Perisic are injured as he is not producing much in the attacking end and there haven't options but to stick with him. Yes you can’t fault his effort but at the moment there is no end product, his scuffed shot today just about summed up his current form, did the hard work and nothing.

 

[Whazam]

So much of the criticism this guy gets seem to come from the idea that good wingers should solely be defined by their pace and ability to attack the byline.

He helps us control the game and build our attack from the wing, holding up the ball and contributing massively with key passes. While also running his ass off for us.

I agree he needs to be more productive, but it really annoys me when his contributions gets boiled down to "he works hard, but" all the time. That's a really one dimensional way of assessing his role in the team, and failing to see his contributions.

 

[glacierSpurs]

So much of the criticism this guy gets seem to come from the idea that good wingers should solely be defined by their pace and ability to attack the byline.

He helps us control the game and build our attack from the wing, holding up the ball and contributing massively with key passes. While also running his ass off for us.

I agree he needs to be more productive, but it really annoys me when his contributions gets boiled down to "he works hard, but" all the time. That's a really one dimensional way of assessing his role in the team, and failing to see his contributions.

I like him continue to be underrated. Teams wouldn't know how important he is to us. My only wish for him is to release the ball sooner and make quicker decision. It's always that split second delay the let him down.

 

[djhotspur]

i think Kulu is very fortunate Solomon and Perisic are injured as he is not producing much in the attacking end and there haven't options but to stick with him. Yes you can’t fault his effort but at the moment there is no end product, his scuffed shot today just about summed up his current form, did the hard work and nothing.

Yeah he should have passed it as well, sarr would have been in.

 

[Joshua shepherd]

That I absolutely agree with. Although I wouldn’t say it’s ‘lazy’ to compare him to Richy as both are big and physical and work very hard which is really important in this system, I agree though that Richy gives the ball away a bit more often yes.

It’s not a bit more often though, one of Kulusevski’s greatest strengths is keeping the ball under pressure, which is coincidentally one of richarlison’s weaknesses. I don’t think they’re comparable players at all tbh.

 

[Darth Vega]

Is Kulu even a winger? I think part of his issue is that he doesn't fit this system at all. He isn't like Johnson but nor is he like his contemporaries in Saka or Salah - he's almost playing RW for us as a result of a lack of options. I wouldn't be surprised to see his future for us in the Maddison role if we're back in Europe and have more reason to rotate.

He's said in the past he sees himself more as a number 10 anyway so it's not anything he's not done before, he just simply doesn't have the natural skillset to play wide like most players do.