Tottenham Hotspur winger Dejan Kulusevski has revealed what he did on Monday night for Sweden which was inspired by his club manager.
There are now just a matter of days remaining in this month’s international break with players set to play their final game.
One Spurs player who is now heading back to Hotspur Way is Dejan Kulusevski after Sweden’s win on Monday night.
And he has revealed what he did in their victory over Albania which was inspired by Ange Postecoglou.
What Dejan Kulusevski did for Sweden
Having been heavily beaten in their game last week by Portugal, the Swedes had somewhat of a point to prove against Albania.
Kulusevski did manage to offer an assist in that game against Portugal last week, but it was not enough to provide them a way back into the game.
It was by no means an emphatic win, but they got there in the end after Kulusevski provided the assist for Gustaf Nilsson’s winning goal.
He was also asked to lead the team talk before the game by the new Sweden manager and Kulusevski has admitted he took inspiration from Postecoglou’s speeches.
He said: “I get inspiration from everything, the speech was from my coach in Tottenham, he is strong on it so I copied a little because I believe in what he says. I prepared that we have to play as a family because a family protects each other.”
Why Tottenham coaches have been screaming at Kulusevski
It has not been a standout season for Kulusevski by any means having returned six goals and three assists in the Premier League.
There may even be some question marks as to whether he should still be starting for Spurs with the recent form shown by Brennan Johnson.
Perhaps even his position could come under scrutiny with the Swede having also shown he is capable of playing a more central role.
But there is something which the Spurs coaches are seemingly trying to get through to the 23-year-old both on and off the pitch.
Kulusevski scored a crucial header in the game against Manchester City earlier in the season, and he’s since revealed how the coaches’ advice helped him to score.
He said: “As a winger, when you are on the opposite wing, you have to attack the box. That is something I have to improve a lot. Because as a player, you always score close to the goal, so you have to come in and always be close to the goal.
“So here I was hearing all the coaches screaming at me to attack to box. But also, I remember that they were always screaming at me. They were screaming live, but also in my head they were screaming.”
Spurs are said to be eyeing up another forward this summer with the likes of Eberechi Eze and Pedro Neto having been linked.
So it will be interesting to see what lies ahead of Kulusevski next season as he could provide an alternative option to James Maddison through the middle.