‘The real Dejan’ – Kulusevski opens up on his new position against Aston Villa

Speaking on the back of the disappointing defeat to Aston Villa, Dejan Kulusevski was able to take one positive away from the game at least – he got to play more centrally, a position he thoroughly enjoys, by the sounds of it.

With injury issues and suspensions seriously affecting the Spurs squad, Ange Postecoglou was forced to play a number of players outside of their normal roles in the game against Villa on Sunday.

That, of course, did offer some players an interesting opportunity to show what they can do. Emerson Royal and Ben Davies were selected at centre-half, Giovani Lo Celso got a rare start in midfield, and Dejan Kulusevski took on a central number 8 role.

Sadly, the match ended in defeat for Spurs, despite having a number of gilt-edged chances to put the game beyond doubt in the first half alone.

Kulusevski enjoys new central role against Villa

Kulusevski had one of those chances, hitting the post early on, but he is focused on the positives. Speaking to Standard Sport, he revealed how happy he was to play centrally.

He said (Standard): “I felt so good, I felt like the real Dejan. I felt like myself. The coach decided where to put me. I enjoyed it and I had real fun playing. It was a great day for me.

“I’ve done it [played centrally] all my life, so it’s nothing new to me. Of course, in the second half, I played right wing, but physically I feel really good, so I’m happy and I know I’m on the right path.”

Spurs Web Opinion

As frustrating as the result was, it was good to see Kulusevski in a different role and one where he looked really dangerous. I imagine we will see him play there again while we are short on players, though I do still feel like he’s strongest out on the right.