Kulusevski reveals he took inspiration from Postecoglou to deliver Sweden team talk

Dejan Kulusevski has revealed that he used inspiration from Ange Postecoglou’s speeches to the Tottenham squad to address his Swedish teammates ahead of their clash against Albania on Monday.

It was a tightly contested encounter, with both teams defending resolutely and chances hard to come.

It was Kulusevski who provided the moment of quality that made the difference, producing a fine cross on 62 minutes that was headed home at the far post by Gustaf Nilsson, with the Scandinavian side emerging 1-0 winners.

Apart from being Sweden’s biggest attacking threat, Kulusevski revealed that manager Jon Dahl Tomasson also entrusted him with the responsibility of speaking to the players ahead of the game.

Postecoglou inspired Kulusevski team talk

The Tottenham man revealed that he was happy to deliver the speech, admitting that he took some of the lines that Postecoglou has used at Spurs.

Kulusevski told Fotbollskanalen: “He (Tomasson) took me aside for a second and asked if I could talk and I said I’ll solve it, then I had to walk around thinking what the hell to say, but it was fun. Maybe I’ll have to take it again next time.

“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.”

Tomasson was quite pleased with the speech that Kulusevski delivered, admitting that the 23-year-old is now taking up more responsibility as one of the leaders of the side.

The Sweden boss said about the winger’s pre-match address: “Fantastic. He did very well. He talked about sticking together and us being a family. It was us, says the union captain.

“Dejan takes more and more responsibility. I like that. We need more of those players who take responsibility. Victor (Lindelof) and Robin (Olsen) do it. But we need more players who do. It helps us in the end.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I would not be surprised if Kulusevski is soon made the captain of his country. Despite being just 23 years of age, the winger has plenty of experience under his belt at the highest level and he is a natural leader.

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