Dejan Kulusevski responds to Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur rant
Dejan Kulusevski has claimed that he wasn’t personally offended by Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte’s comments following the team’s 3-3 Premier League draw against Southampton last weekend.
The Sweden international was signed under Conte in January last year and was, alongside Rodrigo Bentancur, the Italian manager’s first big signing here. It’s clear the two have respect for each other.
Conte has regularly played Kulusevski and even sacrificed big-money signing Richarlison’s playing time to a big extent for it. Deki, who was at Juventus before his move to Spurs, is a world-class player.
He knows it too. Asked to give his opinion on the former Juve manager’s comments, he told Sky Sports (h/t Evening Standard):
“No, because I know what I bring to the team everyday. I know that I prepare myself to do as good as I can and that’s why I can always look at myself in the mirror. Sometimes I know I don’t play [well] enough and I can take responsibility for that.
“But what [Conte] said is for him [to say], that’s his word. But I respect him, he helped me a lot during my career so he’s still a very important man in the club and in my work.”
Kulusevski tends to be one of our best players whenever he plays on the pitch. He has the tendency to dribble past opponents, make things happen, and get on the end of scoring chances himself.
Conte’s comments may not have been aimed towards any player itself, even though he did blatantly call them selfish. At least they may not have been directed towards the ones that are notably world-class, like Kulusevski, Son Heung-min (although he has been in bad form), Harry Kane, and Cristian Romero.
As Jamie Carragher opined, it could just have been a way for him to force Spurs to sack him. Perhaps he has had it here. So have the fans, to be honest. One can argue that he hasn’t been backed as much as the likes of Pep Guardiola.
More Tottenham Hotspur News
- Atletico Madrid star Matt Doherty defenders Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur rant
- Pundit says Tottenham Hotspur Antonio Conte was ‘happy that Southampton equalised’
- Spurs News: Tottenham interested in signing Manchester United loanee Dean Henderson
But he hasn’t done anything to showcase what all the hype about him is as well.
