As Antonio Conte's Tottenham side prepare for a return to Premier League action, Dejan Kulusevski has been speaking about his time in the capital to far. The 21-year-old is one of the players who is returning from international duty and is one of the squad members whose break wasn't so successful.
Kulusevski played every minute of his country's two games during the break. However, Sweden's hopes of reaching the World Cup were shattered after their 2-0 defeat to Poland, despite beating the Czech Republic a few days before.
As the Spurs players return to Hotspur Way, the Italian will be looking to prepare them as best he can, for Sunday's game against Newcastle. The Lilywhites have nine games left to play and their top-four race is still ongoing, as they currently sit three points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.
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Rodrigo Bentancur and Kulusevski were Tottenham's two January transfer window signings, despite Conte also wanting a right wing-back and another striker. However, the former Juventus duo have made an immediate impact on the Spurs side and seem to have fit right in.
Earlier this month the signings were praised by both Son Heung-min and their new boss. "For sure to see Rodrigo Bentancur and Deki Kulusevski go into the team so quickly in this idea of football is great for us," Conte told football.london. "I said to you after these two signings now we are more complete, especially in midfield because we lost [Oliver] Skipp for two or three months at this moment."
"I'm really enjoying playing alongside them. They obviously came here from having been playing in one of the best teams in the world, so they have great experience, and they bring so much positive energy," the South Korean explained.
"They have a great work rate and a great attitude, which is always needed. Both of them are doing really well, so I hope that continues. They support us so well as a team and I want to help them as well to fully settle in the Premier League and at Tottenham."
Kulusevski has shown the good rapport he has already built with his new manager and teammates, which has been seen in training. His statistics on the pitch also further reiterate the ability he has shown he can bring to a Spurs team so far.
The winger has made just nine league appearances and has already scored two goals and registered four assists, with some great linkup play alongside Son and Harry Kane. Kulusevski has created five big chances, had 19 shots and made 40 recoveries, showing his impact in a number of areas on the pitch.
Before the 3-1 victory against West Ham broke the trend, Spurs had spent most of 2022 winning one game and losing the next. The solid performance and result against David Moyes' side ended this pattern and means they go into their match against Newcastle on Sunday, on the back of a league win.
Conte will hope that will be the end of Spurs' inconsistency, as they approach the final stretch of the 2021/22 Premier Legaue campaign. Kulusevski has already spoken about his joy since he made the move to the capital, despite some nerves and he reiterated this ahead of the match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
"It’s an amazing place to be. I’m very proud to represent this club, I’m enjoying my football here and that’s the important thing," the 21-year-old admitted.
"When you’re having fun, you play well, and right now I’m feeling loved, feeling happy to be here, and I enjoy playing with my teammates. I help them and they help me."
Ever since the thrilling 3-2 win against Man City, Conte has opted to start an attacking trio of Kulusevski, Son and Kane. The next seven games have included victories against Leeds, Brighton and Everton, all of which the Swede made goal contributions in.
The attacking three are creating a strong bond in the attacking half of the field, helping solve Tottenham's creativity issue which was prominent at the start of the season. "There’s so much in this team," Kulusevski explained.
"It doesn’t really matter who plays, but everybody’s got a lot of qualities, and is doing very good right now. The more we play together, the more we’re going to win, so it’s important that we continue like this."
Although the 21-year-old admits that everyone has quality, his final point could send a crucial message to Conte, in the final games of the season. Even though the January arrivals have made an immediate impact, they are still likely to be settling in and have some room for improvement.
Therefore not only do Spurs need to find consistency with their results on the pitch, but Kulusevski's point could highlight the need for continued consistency off the pitch and in the starting XI. It has been hard for the Italian to have his full strongest line-up available, with various injuries throughout the season.
However as the winger alludes to, the more the current regular XI play together, the more cohesion they should be able to create on the pitch. This will hopefully result in strong displays week in, week out and lead to better results which will hopefully earn the Lilywhites a spot inside the top four.
