Ange Postecoglou has outlined his specific way of playing at Tottenham, showing his ruthlessness in decision making.
Tottenham have transformed under Ange Postecoglou, with a clear change in playing style and attitude. Within just a few months, the manager has turned dejected voices in the crowd into those singing that they have their club back.
It has stemmed from a discipline to play the way he envisions the team playing, hoping to reap the long-term benefit of some short-term pain. While it means that a top-four finish is on the cards, the goals go beyond that.
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That desire to play the right way has also meant some tough decisions being made at the right moments.
Dejan Kulusevski stats
One key frustration for Postecoglou to tackle surrounds the positioning of Dejan Kulusevski and how to best utilise him. There is no questioning how good the Swedish international can be on his day and the stats back that up.
According to WhoScored, Kulusevski ranks fourth in Europe for the most chances created in open play from the top five leagues, with 57. Only Florian Wirtz (67), Martin Odegaard (66) and Bruno Fernandes (59) rank higher at this stage, while Ilkay Gundogan is just below him with 56 chances created.
Ange Postecoglou Tottenham tactics
The stats show the quality of the winger, however the issue for him comes more from the positioning itself. Postecoglou plays a positional-based approach, looking to find the right player, in the right space, at the right time.
This means that for some, it’s about the discipline to be in that area, something that Kulusevski hasn’t always done. Against Luton in particular, the 23-year-old kept drifting inside rather than maintaining width, making the pitch smaller as a result.
The head coach was ruthless in bringing Kulusevski off, opting to bring on Brennan Johnson, who transformed the game. “There was a moment when, you could tell it was coming, as soon as Jarred Gillett the referee put the whistle to his lips and blew for half-time, Ange Postecoglou turned to Brennan Johnson, pointed to him essentially saying, ‘get ready you’re coming on.’ He’d seen enough, he’d had enough,” journalist Alasdair Gold revealed on YouTube.
“Kulusevski just kept doing, we’ve spoken about this before, he has this habit of – a far too predictable habit – cutting inside. Naturally, because he is a left-footed player playing on the right and you could just see it was bunching up the players in the middle of the pitch.”
Dejan Kulusevski best position
So there are naturally some questions over where the best position may be for Kulusevski in this Tottenham team. While on the right, he has managed to create a tremendous amount, there are doubts over whether he can hold that width.
If the left-footed winger were to move to the opposite flank, there would be competition with Timo Werner, Heung-Min Son and Richarlison. There’s the chance to move more central as the playmaker, which Kulusevski did earlier this season.
It proved to be a good fit, allowing him to float into space to pick up the ball and help create. However, once again, there is competition in the form of James Maddison.
So for now, it appears as though it’ll be a right-wing spot for Kulusevski, with hopes that he can continue his impressive chance creation on top of taking on the tactical instructions.