Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (The Dejan Kulusevski Impact)

We’re often told — especially for the very top clubs — that signings in January don’t make much of an impact. We’re told that it’s a poor time to do business and that you’ll be paying a premium for someone who likely won’t settle until they get a full pre-season behind them anyway. A lot of the time that may be true. For Tottenham and Dejan Kulusevski, that may not be the case.

The Swede, who played his youth football at IF Brommapojkarna in his homeland and then Atalanta, moved to London on deadline day. Initially a ten million euro loan fee (which will later turn into an additional thirty-five million euro fee). The rest they say is history… Okay, so maybe it's not quite that yet, but he’s off to a good start.

As the transfer window ‘slammed’ shut (whatever that means), Conte’s side sat seventh — albeit with two games in hand of fourth-placed Manchester United. There was a clear improvement since hiring the Italian, but they were often one-dimensional and overly relied on Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane. For reference, Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn combined for five league goals all season — a total equalled by Kulusevski.

The addition of Kulusevski (and to a lesser extent his Juventus teammate Rodrigo Bentancur) revitalised Tottenham’s season. Eventually, it helped them pip Arsenal to that much-coveted final Champions League qualification place. The former Serie A Young Player of the Year has always been viewed as an exceptional talent (albeit struggling — as most have done — at Juventus for the past two years), but fewer could have predicted his blistering start (and impact). So what has made the Stockholm-born sensation so effective? Let’s take a look…

First of all, it’s important to determine how Conte’s side lined up and the system they utilise (merely from an attacking viewpoint, for the benefit of this piece of writing). From the start of February onwards, Spurs lined up almost exclusively in a 3–4–3. They aim to build out from the back, with the end goal of getting one of the most fun attacking trios in the league — Son, Kane & Kulusevski — in as much space as possible. They drop nearly everyone bar the names just mentioned deep, attempting to get the opposition to press high. They are then able to beat that press through smart combinations and attempt to find Kane, who in typical fashion will drop deep. This then allows Son and Kulusevski, the two wide forwards, lots of space in behind. If you want a more comprehensive breakdown of how Spurs play, the excellent Jon Mackenzie and Tifo Football have broken it down here:

Despite Conte already flirting with the idea of Kulusevski playing as a wing-back, he has predominantly played as the right-hand-sided attacker in Spurs’ front three, as we can see from his Premier League heatmap for last season (thanks to @EuroExpert_):

One of Kulusevski’s biggest strengths is his ability to carry the ball, and this has been one of the reasons Spurs have looked so effective since the January window. The Swede is in the 72nd percentile for progressive carries per ninety (6.71) and 80th percentile for completed dribbles per ninety (2).

What makes Kulusevski’s ball carrying so special is a combination of speed and ability to give the opposition the impression that they’re able to take the ball away from him then using delicate and precisely timed touches to evade and waltz through defences, almost as if he’s a slalom skier at the Winter Olympics going for gold. His ability to use a combination of feints and dummies due to his agility and quickness of thought make him extremely difficult to defend against one vs. one. In just fourteen games for Tottenham, the 22-year-old had five nutmegs…

In terms of direct attacking output, Kulusevski scored five goals and assisted eight goals in the Premier League. Let’s take a look at some of those situations in a bit more detail.

This is Kulusevski’s goal against Aston Villa in a 4–0 away win:

As Lloris pumps a high ball up to Kane, Kulusevski finds himself as the central attacker of an extremely narrow front three.

A poor first touch takes him out wide, away from goal, slowing down the attack and making it more difficult to get a high-quality shot off.

Despite a poor first touch, he has the intelligence and ability to face up the defenders. This is a low-quality chance (0.08 xG according to Understat), but Kulusevski’s shooting technique is extremely clean, it allows him to strike over the top of the ball — generating high power and accuracy into the far corner. This goal shows areas Kulusevski can improve on, but it also shows the flexibility he’s added to Tottenham (a more fluid attacking unit) and the type of quality they’ve lacked in recent years.

The next goal is a more trademark Kulusevski finish, this time in another 4–0 away victory at Leeds:

After moving past the Leeds defender, Kulusevski finds himself in a difficult position close to the touchline, with the easiest option probably to play the ball off the Leeds player and win his side a corner.

After playing a one-two with Doherty (circled), Kulusevski finds himself on the other side of the defender, with Son making a run beyond him and Kane waiting on the edge of the area.

Instead of playing the pass to Kane, Kulusevsi has tunnel vision (something that both benefits and hinders his attacking play) and cuts inside to take the shot. This is something he is particularly skilled at, and his ball-striking technique — as mentioned before — means that he is efficient in hitting the target. In this instance, he goes to Meslier’s near-side, but there is a variety to where he places his shots. He is particularly well skilled at the popularised-by-Arjen-Robben cut inside and aims for the far post shot.

As we can see from the shot map below for the 2021–22 season, the majority of the Swedish international’s strikes come from the central to wide-right areas of the penalty area.

He may not take the highest quality of chances (0.24 xG per ninety), but he’s an extremely efficient goalscorer for the number of shots he takes — ranking in the 91st percentile for goals per shot (0.19 per ninety). His ability to score from low xG chances, and his use of defenders' bodies to either bend the ball around or catch the keeper off guard on their near side makes it near impossible to defend him in certain situations. This efficiency and profile are the perfect match for Conte’s system, and complimentary alongside Kane and Son.

With 8 assists in the league, Kulusevski finished joint tenth (alongside players such as Kevin De Bruyne) in the assist table — despite joining in January. The most famous of these was his last-minute cross for Kane’s winner vs. City:

As Conte’s system aims to do, Kulusevski has found himself in acres of space on the right-wing, with Kane and Moura venturing into the box.

Spurs’ number 21 then faces up his defender, to allow more of his teammates to make their way into attacking positions.

Thanks to some stand-off defending, he’s allowed to cut back inside and find a better angle for the cross, which he lofts into a central area. The way the ball is lofted allows Kane to use his superior aerial ability to climb above the defenders and win the game. This is a good example of Kulusevski’s patience and intelligence, instead of rushing the cross when in space on the right-hand side, he has the ability to assess his surroundings and use his quality to then find his teammate — despite how late it is in the game.

Here’s another of his assists, this time against Leicester in a 3–1 home win:

He picks the ball up out wide after a great tackle from Hojberg with — again a common theme of Conte’s Spurs — lots of space out wide to exploit.

Instead, Kulusevski brings the ball inside on his favoured left foot and allows his teammates to get forward and make penetrating runs into the penalty area.

He delays the pass until the last moment, allowing Son acres of space in the box to receive the ball, which he spins on and then fires home. This is yet another example of Kulusevski’s intelligence, patience and compatibility with Kane and Son. Their chemistry developed over a short space of time, and despite being new to the league — once home to Kulusevski’s footballing idol, Adnan Januzaj (me neither) — understood the movement of both the South Korean and English attackers, something that both Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn have failed to do in recent years.

As required in a Conte side, Kulusevski is also competent on the defensive side of the game. He is in the 97th percentile for pressures per ninety (24.14), showing his defensive effort. He also ranks in the 96th percentile for interceptions per ninety (1.74), showing that his intelligence doesn’t end in the attacking third. This is key to Spurs’ success, as it allows them to catch the opposition off guard and get numerical advantages on the counterattack. His defensive discipline is also key for Tottenham’s success in bigger games, where Conte prefers to set up in a deep block. It can be easier for talented attacking talents to ease off in this setting, or be caught ball watching, but Kulusevski has awareness and effort, making him the ideal forward on both sides of the ball.

Overall Thoughts

Without Kulusevski’s impact, it’s difficult to see how Tottenham finish above Arsenal last season. Despite his young age and stagnation (for the most part) at Juventus, he was a breath of fresh air and his intelligence and creativity meshed as well as Jam & Peanut butter with Son and Kane. There are of course still some limitations in his game and areas to improve, but overall this was as good a January signing as I can remember.

Thirteen goals and assists in fourteen ‘nineties’ is a ridiculous first six months for a 22-year-old, but his impact on the side goes beyond his direct attacking numbers. His ball-carrying ability allows Tottenham to progress the ball quickly, and his flexibility to play in numerous different roles (right-wing, attacking midfield) means that the team's attack has become much more fluid and unpredictable. This will become even more valuable as Richarlison joins the ranks for the upcoming season.

This has just scratched the surface of what has made Kulusevski and Tottenham’s marriage so ideal so far, and with him officially becoming a Tottenham player the journey has just become. Conte’s cycles at clubs are usually short yet fruitful ones, and finally looking settled at a club since Parma (which was itself a loan), next season is likely to be the Swede’s most fruitful yet. Kulusevski has blended efficiency with flair, trickery and a whole lot of fun in his short career at the Tottenham Stadium — next season can only bring more of the same.