Time will tell whether Brennan Johnson’s dramatic dinked winner against Coventry City was the turning point in Tottenham Hotspur’s season but it felt like a significant moment in real time.
It was a Spurs performance in which their Premier League flaws in the opening weeks of 2024-25 and their domestic cup defects in recent years merged into one gloopy mess. A painfully sterile first half (73 per cent of the ball, zero shots) was followed by a calamitous second littered with implausible mistakes. At one point, the 6ft 7ins Fraser Forster pole-vaulted Radu Dragusin.
A third 1-0 defeat to a Championship club in the last four seasons was on the cards until one moment turned the tide of the tie and potentially the club’s trajectory under Ange Postecoglou.
When the perpetually ineffectual Timo Werner suffered a muscle strain 15 minutes before the end, Postecoglou turned to Dejan Kulusevski, his fifth substitute of the night, for a last roll of the dice.
Kulusevski transformed the game, injecting an urgency and ambition into Tottenham’s game that had been lacking all night.
His constant movement and driving runs helped to force Coventry back and a clever toe-poked pass through a defender’s legs freed Djed Spence to score the equaliser.
The gravity of Spurs’ predicament ensured that Kulusevski had a free role to roam and rove into positions where he could play probing passes. The game state suited the Swede, whose awareness of space is one of his key strengths. He was everywhere, driving down the left wing, cutting in from the right wing, creating from deep and disrupting on the D, pinning and spinning defenders.
Despite only playing for 16 minutes, he was probably Tottenham’s best player. He has also arguably been their most impressive performer across their opening four Premier League fixtures.
So far in this campaign, Kulusevski has played centrally, either as an advanced central midfielder or else up front as a False 9 when Dominic Solanke was injured. Previously, most of his appearances in a Spurs shirt, either under Antonio Conte or in Postecoglou’s first season, were as an inverted winger on the right.
Although he can be effective there, Kulusevski lacks the searing speed that is a hallmark of the very best wingers. It’s a trait that Postecoglou likes in his wide attackers too, given a key part of the Australian’s attacking gameplan is geared towards creating one vs one situations on the flanks and loading the box for crosses and cutbacks from the byline.
In the three transfer windows since Postecoglou was appointed, Spurs have signed five wingers, all of whom are quick, touchline huggers: Werner, Johnson, Wilson Odobert, Manor Solomon, who is spending the season on loan at Leeds, and Yang Min-Hyeok, the South Korean teenager who will join from Gangwon in January.
Kulusevski doesn’t fit that mould. His natural inclination is to drift infield, rather than burn down the outside. “I always thought of me being a No 10,” he said in 2022. Finally, he is playing in a position that he considers to be his best.
Kulusevski is currently creating chances at a faster rate than James Maddison, who is still searching for the form that made him such a hit in the opening months of the Postecoglou era. The pair linked up well in Coventry, with Maddison playing a cute ball around the corner into Kulusevski who found Spence to score. Postecoglou will hope that can be a sign of things to come.
The Spurs boss has struggled to find a settled midfield three but a trio of Kulusevski, Maddison and Yves Bissouma in a deeper role is emerging as his favoured combination.
Maddison had looked set to become the poster boy of the post-Harry Kane era at White Hart Lane after his swashbuckling start in north London, but on current form, Kulusevski is threatening to take that title.
Maddison is a more graceful and elegant player, but Kulusevski’s barreling runs and dogged determination are more effective right now. If Maddison can rediscover his peak performances, Spurs have a potentially devastating double act at their disposal.
Kulusevski is a relentless presser high up the pitch: according to FBREF, Kulusevski made more tackles in the opponent’s third than any other player in the Premier League last season. That is a vital asset for a team that aims to win the ball high up the pitch; only Manchester City made more high turnovers in the division.
Tottenham’s fanbase is split between the Postecoglou believers and the sceptics after a disappointing start to year two. Statistics are being deployed to justify both sides of the argument: on the one hand, Spurs’ underlying numbers are up across the board compared to last season; on the other, they have taken fewer points than Bournemouth since the start of last November.
Angeball is teetering on the precipice between success and failure. Kulusevski will be key if it swings in a favourable direction.
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