For Dejan Kulusevski and Tottenham, there were a good few moments during Sunday’s 6-3 home defeat against Liverpool when the nerves jangled, when their faith in who they are under Ange Postecoglou had to have been tested. Most obviously on 61 minutes when Mohamed Salah scored for 5-1.
A few minutes before that, the Liverpool goalkeeper, Alisson, had played a long straight ball upfield and suddenly the outstanding Dominik Szoboszlai had a one-on-one with the Spurs goalkeeper, Fraser Forster, which he could not take. Trent Alexander-Arnold would work Forster from distance a little bit later. Luis Díaz then had a chance.
Liverpool were rampant. They had torn through all game from all angles and, at that point, it was easy to think they were hellbent on something more than victory – on ending Postecoglou’s project as a going concern. Maybe, just maybe, it was a time for Spurs to close ranks, to shut down the spaces, to be secure in defence. What must it be like to wear the club’s white shirt and live this white-knuckle ride?
“I said to myself [at 5-1]: ‘If you want to play, play now,’” Kulusevski said. “It’s easy to play when you’re winning. It’s easy to play when everything is going good. If you want to be a man, step up now and do your best. And that’s what we did.”
In other words – no, it was not a time to take a backwards step. For Postecoglou, it is not a part of the deal. It’s who we are, mate. Credit to Kulusevski, who is having such a fine season. He drove his team, fashioning a couple of openings, then making it 5-2 with a nice volley. Díaz would blow another one-on-one at the other end before Dominc Solanke scored for 5-3.
“Honestly, at 5-3, I said that we’re going to do it,” Kulusevski said. “It was so frustrating to see the ball go in [from Díaz] for 6-3 and after that the game is over. I really thought that it could happen, something special.”
Spurs is the only place in world football where a 5-1 deficit does not mean the players lose hope. In Ange-ball they trust. On one level, it is a beautiful thing. It is why Spurs are among the most watchable teams in England. And yet on another, it can come to feel ludicrous. When can one have too much Ange-ball?
Maybe after the 41st minute of Sunday’s game, when James Maddison had made it 2-1 in a grievous affront to the run of play? Spurs had to get to half-time with no further damage. What they simply had to avoid was getting sucked upfield, leaving gaps and letting Liverpool run through for 3-1. No prizes for guessing what happened, Szoboszolai the gleeful beneficiary.
Kulusevski knows there have to be moments when Spurs are more solid, more savvy, when they consider the broader context. It would not be a betrayal. In this case, it took in how they were stretched in the absence of eight players – nine if you included Destiny Udogie, the first-choice left-back, who was fit enough only for the bench and did not come on.
Postecoglou relied on the XI that he started against Manchester United in Thursday’s 4-3 Carabao Cup quarter-final win. Arne Slot, by contrast, had heavily rotated his Liverpool team for their victory at Southampton in the same competition 24 hours earlier. Liverpool are carrying only two injuries. They were always going to be fresher and sharper.
It was put to Kulusevski that control during matches was something Spurs ought to seek. “If you want to get a result, maybe yeah,” he said. “You have to think about how are we physically? Who’s playing? How many games have we played the last week? Who are we playing? Have they rested for one week or something? You have to put everything in because it is like life – it’s not just black and white. It’s a lot of factors going into it.”
In the end, it is about whether Spurs’s approach is sustainable. “No, maybe not,” Kulusevski said. “But you have to improve, you have to find ways. Maybe we should have let them have the ball more but that’s not how we play. We went out, we gave everything. It didn’t work. Maybe we learn for the next time.”
It is also about compromise. “Of course, we have to do it,” Kulusevski said. “We have to learn because we conceded six goals. I can’t sit here and say that we’re doing something perfectly. We’re not. We have to change a little bit for the better, always try to change for the better.”
Spurs were surely fortunate that Liverpool eased off from the 65th minute. At 5-3, it was as if Slot’s team decided to push again because a two-goal victory margin would have been scant reward for such a powerhouse performance. They really did call the tune to that extent.
Next up for Spurs is the trip to Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day; a meeting with their former manager Nuno Espírito Santo, which will be rich in narrative strands. Top of the bill will be the clash of styles.