Dejan Kulusevski has been enjoying a wonderful start to his Tottenham career so far under Antonio Conte. During the January transfer window, the Swede was one of the priority names sought after by Conte and club sporting director Fabio Paratici and the player has exceeded the club’s expectations with his performances.
In just 11 Premier League appearances, he has scored 3 goals and has assisted 6 times and he has formed a prolific partnership with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min. Conte’s newfound attacking trio have been crucial to the team finding consistent form as 2 out of the trident have been either assisting or scoring a goal in Tottenham’s last 4 games.
Saturday’s 4-0 thrashing of Aston Villa became another example where all three players delivered. Son grabbed the headline with his clinical hat trick, Kane became the provider with two goals while Kulusevski scored and assisted a goal.
The Swedish international’s goal was one of the best on the night as he latched onto a Kane header to get past two defenders before slotting past Emi Martinez in goal from a tight angle.
The quality of the goal was recognized by the travelling Spurs fans at Villa Park and by the club’s Twitter admin online. “What a goal! Take a bow, Dejan Kulusevski,” exclaimed the latter on the social media site.
But the excitement did not stop there as the admin displayed immense knowledge of football folklore while replying to a fan.
When another Twitter user replied to the original tweet with “he’s not finish, he’s Swedish,” the Spurs admin responded with a joke of their own in “he’s not finish, he’s only 21”.
The Context
This tweet was a call back to a famous football moment from the past when a Scotland fan called into the talkSPORT studio expressing his surprise at Finnish international and then Hearts goalkeeper Antti Niemi not playing for Scotland.
Caller: I was wondering about the goalkeeper selection for the Scotland squad, and he must know Hearts have got a good team, we get Colin Cameron in the squad and Steven Pressley but I just don’t know why, for at least three seasons, he’s been ignoring Antti Niemi.
Albiston (host): Antti Niemi?
Caller: Aye! I dunnae know why he doesn’t get a game?
Albiston: …for Scotland?
Caller: Aye!
Albiston: …he’s from Finland.
Caller: He’s what?!
Albiston: He’s Finnish.
Caller: He’s not finished, he only 28!
The Spurs admin displayed a sound knowledge of classic football stories and scored brownie points with football fans with the reference.
As reminded by their Twitter admin, Spurs fans would be looking forward to more such exquisite performances from their 21-year-old Swede. With Arsenal and Manchester United losing on a day Spurs won 4-0, the North London side are now beginning to solidify their 4th position on the table and would be looking to get the job done in the coming weeks.
