Tottenham Hotspur: Alasdair Gold drops concerning Kulusevski claim

Tottenham Hotspur cruised through to the fifth round of the FA Cup at the weekend and Dejan Kulusevski was awarded his Spurs debut for the final stages of the game. 

However, Alasdair Gold spoke on his YouTube channel after the game about a potential concern he had regarding the Swedish winger’s cameo in north London.

Kulusevski replaced Lucas Moura – who put in a sub-par performance – with just over 20 minutes remaining of the game after Harry Kane regained the Lilywhites’ two-goal advantage.

With Spurs controlling the match, the 21-year-old found himself on the ball a lot in the final stages, which allowed Gold to pick up on the reliance of his left foot.

Kulusevski will have two opportunities to feature again in north London with league games on Wednesday and Sunday coming up, and Gold had the following to say on the Swede’s Spurs debut:

“The other thing I noticed – and again, this is only on 27 minutes of play – was that he kept cutting inside a lot on his left foot. He didn’t really seem to trust his right foot very much at all.

“He’s a naturally left-footed player who plays on the right normally and he does like to cut in. But my only thing I said in my analysis was that… on the night it was slightly predictable and I hope it doesn’t become a thing that teams are able to target because they know he’ll always come inside.”

TIF Thoughts on Dejan Kulusevski’s Spurs debut…

We found this a slightly odd transfer from Spurs given it was not an area that Antonio Conte was believed to be looking to address over the January window.

However, touching on Gold’s claim, the Swede did look very heavily reliant on his stronger foot, which saw him regularly cutting inside from the right wing and onto his left side.

And although Gold did pick up on this, it should be noted Kulusevski will be disappointed he didn’t mark his debut with an assist for Steven Bergwijn.

In the latter stages of the game, Kulusevski cut inside onto his left foot and provided Bergwijn with a golden opportunity which the Dutchman skied over the bar.

Had the Spurs winger converted Kulusevski’s pass, then perhaps we would be looking at his debut display with a little more enthusiasm.

In other news: ‘Was about to admit’ – Gold reveals what Conte nearly let slip at Spurs; would’ve made headlines