Player Watch Player Watch: Dejan Kulusevski

[Col_M]

Kulu is terrific. His work rate and ball retention is the best in the team. I’d like to see him get a few goals to ease the burden on Son but right now he’s a definite starter.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

He's got an unusual skillset for a wide man. Not particularly agile, quick footed or pacey but seems to make chances using his strength and tenacity.

I agree and, I think that's actually more useful than pace when teams park the bus. Could also be useful as a 10 in that situation, too.

 

[Japhet]

Don't suppose it will happen but I'd like to see Kulu left wing and Johnson right as an experiment. Udogie and Porro get very narrow at times and we don't use width very well on some occasions.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

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.

Great post.

I do think Deki would be helped if we had a truly electric 1 vs 1 player on the left side as it would create more space for him on the right imo. I think he can be an excellent squad player for us and something of a Bernardo Silva type creative outlet in the wide position rather than an elite pace winger.

If we can sign someone like Nico Williams, Nusa etc for the left then we could mainly use 2 out of 3 from Deki, Johnson and the new signing out wide. Then we could look at upgrading Solomon in the summer if we don’t think he’s good enough long term.

Deki has an important role within our team and squad. I just think we need to add more explosive attackers with dribbling ability in the squad to complement him and give us options.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Great post.

I do think Deki would be helped if we had a truly electric 1 vs 1 player on the left side as it would create more space for him on the right imo. I think he can be an excellent squad player for us and something of a Bernardo Silva type creative outlet in the wide position rather than an elite pace winger.

If we can sign someone like Nico Williams, Nusa etc for the left then we could mainly use 2 out of 3 from Deki, Johnson and the new signing out wide. Then we could look at upgrading Solomon in the summer if we don’t think he’s good enough long term.

Deki has an important role within our team and squad. I just think we need to add more explosive attackers with dribbling ability in the squad to complement him and give us options.

Agree completely. After I posted I realised I should have also mentioned the LW situation having a detrimental effect on Kulu. You’re completely right about the LW, Richy essentially, effectively limiting Kulu. It makes the front 3 completely unbalanced and lopsided. Kulu isn’t necessarily the best dribbler but he’s certainly not the worst ether but with Richy being so incredibly limited in possession (essentially he is a basic pass and move player when out wide) it allows defences to give more attention to Kulu. We shouldn’t be in a position where Kulu is our only incisive 1v1 wide player, it doesn’t do him or the team any favours.

Regardless of how I rate Kulu or what role he will ultimately play for us (I agree with your Silva suggestion) I think if we put a more electric player on the LW it will, as you point out, give more freedom to the RW. For now I would 100% be trying Johnson and Gil over Richy on the wing as even if they are still rough they will offer more of what we need out wide until we can properly reassess the situation in the jan or summer window.

 

[Montalbano]

Considering Kulu has been the one attacking player the gaffer refuses to take off I think he is very much in favor

 

[matty74]

His stats for workrate . In the top 5 in the league not only keeps him in the team but also in the pitch for entire games .

his work off the ball typically seen at Luton went some way to us winning the game .

I still think he needs to contribute I. The final third to warrant the game time he gets

 

[SlotBadger]

 

[Tucker]

Looks like he has ear ache.

 

[daryl]

I hope having bentancur back in the side will help him, maybe s complete coincidence, but he seems to have lost his passing and shooting skills since he’s been out, it’s a strange one as we know he’s got them skills in his locker, he was scoring and setting goals up for fun prior to that

 

[jezz]

If we want to win stuff.
we need competition for all places including Kulu.
It brings the best out of players.

 

[rossdapep]

He is definitely having a slight doubt before shooting.

It only takes a milisecond of that doubt to make him fluff his decision.

For example, when he could have thread Sarr through. You could see he thought abotu shooting first, then spotted Sarr but because he was in 2 minds, he held the pass then decided to shoot again.

That led to his shot being weak and not from a good position.

Contrast that to when he first joined and he is either passing or shooting first time with no doubts

 

[npearl4spurs]

Hear me out here...assuming Brennan Johnson continues to develop the talent he has
If Johnson can use his pace on the left and be the new Son in that position, couldn't Deki have the same success with both of them that he did with Kane and Son?
I think so and I think we may see many more goal contributions from him if Johnson does seize the starting spot

 

[west indie]

In pre season, the first half sides seemed to struggle to create opportunities with the inverted forwards, then the second half sides looked alot more balanced and fluid with right footed wing forwards on the right, left footed wing forwards on the left.

Feel Deki on the lett with Brennan on the right might offer Sonny alot more scoring chances from cut backs that he isn't getting at present. Both wing forwards could see an upsurge in them scoring tap ins at the far post.

Defence is tight, midfield looks good, just need to find the balance to make the front 3 fluid.

 

[mil1lion]

Johnson has looked good so far on the left so not sure why we wouldn't just stick with him that side. At least for a run of games. Kulusevski is very strong on the right, works well with Porro and still does a lot of work outside the fullback and pulls balls back. I don't see him being any better on the left. Maybe less effective as won't come inside as well where on the right he comes inside and outside well.

 

[glacierSpurs]

Is it just me - can't fault his work rate, but if there's a next level for him to reach, he has to make much better decision in his final ball. He very predictable. Too predictable.

Sometimes I wished he could release the ball so much quicker but he will always take that extra touch and Son has already been marked. Some times he could have just threaded a ball forward to the centre region but he will most definitely pass to Porro who may not had the most available of space to run. Then most cases he will cut to his left to cross and/or shoot, which nobody, including our forwards, will be anticipated to defend/block or to attack, because either way the ball will sky.

To me, he looks like playing with a shackle of self-expectation, which was weird because when he first played for us he was as is playing freely without a burden.

 

[chas vs dave]

Is it just me - can't fault his work rate, but if there's a next level for him to reach, he has to make much better decision in his final ball. He very predictable. Too predictable.

Sometimes I wished he could release the ball so much quicker but he will always take that extra touch and Son has already been marked. Some times he could have just threaded a ball forward to the centre region but he will most definitely pass to Porro who may not had the most available of space to run. Then most cases he will cut to his left to cross and/or shoot, which nobody, including our forwards, will be anticipated to defend/block or to attack, because either way the ball will sky.

To me, he looks like playing with a shackle of self-expectation, which was weird because when he first played for us he was as is playing freely without a burden.

He looked knackered 2nd half tbf.

I'd like to see him swap wings on occasions though

 

[Wheeler Dealer]

Dead-end Kulusevski

 

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

Not easy for our front three today but he is frustrating in the last third. needs to work on his balance and right foot. In the second half he had a very simple right footed cross into the middle where Son and Johnson got in front of their markers but turns back and we eventually fritter away possession. Needs to keep the left back honest or he’s going to carry on being way to predictable.

 

[djhotspur]

He’s just not good enough if we want to be truly challenging. He gets the ball in so many incredible positions and just never does anything