Tottenham: Dejan Kulusevski reveals how Spurs 'got back to principles' in Manchester United win
Dejan Kulusevski says a rare week off enabled Tottenham to "get back to our principles" in Sunday's 1-0 win over Manchester United, as he targeted success in the Europa League and a long “winning streak" in the Premier League.
James Maddison's goal earned Ange Postecoglou's side a scrappy victory in north London at the end of a first clear week for Spurs since the turn of the year.
Maddison was one of five players to return to Postecoglou's squad after injury, with the playmaker and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario both going straight into the starting XI.
Spurs crashed out of both domestic cups last week to leave their season hinging on progress in Europe and remain well adrift of the top eight in the league, but Kulusevski remains optimistic that they can finish the campaign strongly now their injuries are clearing.
“[Last week] was very rough but you can’t be emotional," the Swede said. "When you give everything you had, when you prepare yourself 100 per cent, you can't look back. It didn't go as I wanted or we wanted but the day after I didn’t care. Because you can’t have regrets when you give everything.
"We needed this week of rest, we need it a lot...[to] start training, get back to our principles, get some players back and it was a good win.
"[A rest] is very important, especially for the long-term also because in the end you want to be superman but you can’t deny [the reality of] things.
"I really needed that week, to get away for two days with the family because we don’t spend a lot of time with our families when we play every day and sleep at hotels, so you want to have a life also. In the long run, I think it will make a difference.
"Also physically we have had some [injury] problems and we try to fix them. But it's hard when you play every day so it was very good for everyone.
"To play football you need energy," he continued. "You need a lot of energy and sometimes you can't find it and we had to show it [against United].
"The only thing I care about in life is 'never give up'. Everything else can happen, I don't care, but the only thing I never want to see in football is playing with your head down. So always do your best. So [the aim is to] win the Europa League and go on a winning streak in the Premier League. That’s my goal at least."
On his first appearance in three weeks due to a calf strain, Maddison settled a low-quality, end-to-end game against United when he reacted quickest to Andre Onana parrying Lucas Bergvall's shot to side-foot home the winner after 13 minutes.
Vicario, who had been sidelined since suffering a fractured foot against Manchester City on November 23, was also influential, making a string of saves on his return, including a smart one-handed stop to keep out Alejandro Garnacho's fierce drive.
"I’m a huge fan of Vicario. Like a huge, huge fan. His energy is unmatched, he is fantastic. I told him, ‘When you come back the whole stadium needs to feel it’. That's what he does. He's an unbelievable goalkeeper. He made a couple of saves and, so with him back, it’s a big, big player.
"He’s a professional, he’s in the gym every day. He's every day happy, he wants to get better and he’s Italian! So I have a great bond with him and it was good to have him back. The last game he played was the 4-0 [win] at Man City, so we missed him a lot."
Spurs recorded back-to-back wins in the league for the first time since September, when they also beat Brentford and United, and made it three victories over the Red Devils this term – with Kulusevski aware that they could still meet again in the Europa League.
"We beat them three times and played very good games against them, but they are still a very good team and it’s never easy to beat United, but maybe we’ll see them [in the Europa League] in a couple of months," he said.
"Nothing is better than winning, it’s the most important thing because it gives you energy, it gives you belief and in football you need those things."
