"Angry" Kulusevski fires message to Tottenham team-mates ahead of Man City clash
Dejan Kulusevski will take out his “anger” and frustration on Manchester City after Tottenham's tribute to their former boss Terry Venables fell flat.
The Swedish winger had an outstanding game but finished on the losing side against Aston Villa – Spurs' third successive defeat – and now Kulusevski can't wait to exercise his disappointment at the Etihad on Sunday.
Kulusevski has scored on each of his last two visits to Blue Moon country – once in victory, the other in defeat – and after the ill-starred loss against Villa, he said: “I'm just angry. We cannot lose a game like that, so very angry, very disappointed.
“Honestly, we played unbelievable. The problem is we've lost three in a row. that's the big problem. The way we played, especially the first 30 minutes, we have to play like that for 90 minutes then we cannot lose games.
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“I think we have to improve only mentally. Football-wise we are unbelievable, the coach is doing unbelievable with us. We have to just stay on track, believe in ourselves and keep playing like this.
“Does that give us confidence going to Man City? Yeah, absolutely. We played there a couple of times before with Antonio (Conte) and did well, so it's going to be a good game.
“I'm looking forward to it – City are a great team but I think we're a very good team also. I love playing against them, I've played them twice and scored two goals. I'm looking forward to doing it again.”
In many ways, injury-hit Tottenham's 2-1 defeat by Villa was a perfect tribute to Venables. They played sublime football but lost, just as El Tel, as England coach, was unfortunate to lose the Euro 96 semi-final which gripped a nation.
Kulusevski says it's important for Spurs to stick with boss Ange Postecoglou's attacking instincts, adding: “I really hope the fans stay with us because we will win in the future if we continue like this.
“It is important that we stay together, everybody in this club, and outside it's not important what anybody else says. I think inside everybody needs to have a positive energy and help us players because we will bring them happiness.”
Tottenham players were unhappy with Villa defender Matty Cash's tackle which forced Rodrigo Bentancur – who only returned from an eight-month injury lay-off four weeks ago – to retire hurt with an ankle problem.
Kulusevski said: “I have to see it again, but Rodri was really angry and he said it could maybe be more than a yellow card. It's just so hard for Rodri - unbelievable person, unbelievable player, out for eight months and comes back after two games and gets injured again.
“Life is hard. He has to stay strong and he has a great family and good team-mates to support him. It's very hard to take because I love him as a guy. He's the guy I want to go to war with and they take him out like that with a bad tackle.”
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