Postecoglou gets angry with Kulusevski and four things spotted in Bournemouth vs Tottenham
Postecoglou gets angry with Kulusevski and four things spotted in Bournemouth vs Tottenham
Spurs news takes a look at what we spotted during the early kick-off in the Premier League on Saturday lunchtime between Bournemouth and Tottenham Hotspur at the Vitality Stadium
Tottenham have gone top of the Premier League, for a few hours at least, after a fine 2-0 win over Bournemouth in the lunchtime kick-off.
Spurs were the dominant team, although they were given a couple of scares, but deserved the three points on the south coast. James Maddison gave the visitors the lead, side-footing home a superb Pape Matar Sarr defence-splitting pass. Dejan Kulusevski made it two in the second period, stroking in a Destiny Udogie cut-back.
Here are a few things we spotted during the match at the Vitality Stadium that you might have missed
Postecoglou applauds Porro
As we’ve already seen multiple times this season with the way Postecoglou likes to play, the full-backs are often pushed into central midfield when Tottenham look to play out from the back. The extra man helps in tight spaces as Spurs look to move through the gears through the middle of the pitch.
It’s Postecoglou’s way and it’s the style of football he wants his Spurs team to adopt. And the Tottenham full-backs have taken to it very quickly indeed.
There was one moment in the first half that had Postecoglou applauding – as he often did in the first 45 minutes – for something you might not expect.
With Spurs playing out from the back through Micky van de Ven and Yves Bissouma, Pedro Porro took up the position in central midfield to take the ball from Bissouma. Porro tried to play a first time pass, back to Bissouma to get Tottenham moving, but fired it straight out of play. No matter. Postecoglou was happy with the attempt, wanting his players to take risks and play on the front foot all the time.
READ MORE: Tottenham player ratings vs Bournemouth: Maddison and Van de Ven impress, Richarlison frustrated
Postecoglou gets angry with Kulusevski
You have to be all-action and always want the ball and desperate to win it back if you lose it under Postecoglou.
In the main, the Spurs players have responded, but it’s not always going to be perfect, the players are going to make mistakes, and as far as Postecoglou is concerned, Dejan Kulusevski made a big one in the first half.
With the ball on halfway, the Swede went in for a 50/50, but seemed to pull out of it and let Bournemouth take possession. To say his manager was unhappy would be an understatement.
“Deki!” was the shout from the Australian, who threw his arms out and slapped his legs. To be fair to Kulusevski, he may have had a talking to in a break when an injured player was down, as later on in the half he was seen tracking back and making tackles, helping out his defenders.
Poor Richarlison
Another game goes by and Richarlison’s £60million price tag continues to weigh heavy on him.
A steady if unspectacular first half was followed by a poor second half, as he was hooked just before the hour mark. Things just did not fall for him and that was no more apparent than in two moments, one in each half.
In the first he was played through on the counter attack and after cutting inside his defender, pulled off a brilliant bit of skill to flick the ball away from the keeper, looking to round him and tap into an empty net. But a defender got back to stop him shooting and his big moment was gone. The chance came as a result of a big sliding tackle by Cristian Romero at the other end, and knowing Richarlison’s luck, VAR probably would have got involved and ruled it out if he had scored
Then, later on, with Spurs on the break, the Brazilian stepped on the ball as he strode forward, ruining a chance. What’s more he was booked for a foul immediately after, showing his frustration and was then hauled off.
Udogie is class
In case you hadn’t spotted it in the first couple of games of the Premier League season, Destiny Udogie showed once again why Spurs splashed the cash on him last year.
He is excellent at the back, showing his pace when he is perhaps caught out of position by virtue of the way Postecoglou wants to attack and is an excellent outlet going forward too.
He was the one who played a neat one-two with Son Heung-min and got to the byline before cutting back for Kulusevski to score. He had started it with his driving run, something we’re already accustomed to seeing. A brilliant signing.
