'Special': Shaun Wright-Phillips says Tottenham have a player like Dennis Bergkamp
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It wasn’t so long ago that the Tottenham players and the manager were getting verbally battered after losing the north London derby to Arsenal.
Ange Postecoglou was under pressure and many were questioning where the team were heading under his stewardship.
Fast forward to the present and Tottenham players are now being compared to Arsenal and the Premier League’s legendary forward, Dennis Bergkamp.
Spurs have won four-in-row since that Arsenal defeat – in all competitions – the Premier League, League Cup and the Europa League.
The most impressive performance was perhaps Tottenham’s comfortable win against Manchester United on Sunday at Old Trafford.
From the get-go, the London club were at it, with Brennan Johnson opening the scoring after a few minutes and then Bruno Fernandes getting sent off just before half-time.
As you would expect, the away team came out after the break with their tails up and Dejan Kulusevski flicked in his side’s second, before they weathered the storm and finished off Erik ten Hag’s side when Dominic Solanke added his name to the scoresheet.
Shaun Wright-Phillips was impressed by what he saw and he paid the biggest of compliments to Kulusevski, who is now playing in the middle, rather than out wide.
The former Manchester City winger compared the Sweden international to Bergkamp because of the positions he would pick up out on the pitch, as he told Premier League Productions (30/09/24 at 1:20 pm).
Dejan Kulusevski compared to Dennis Bergkamp
"It almost, when I was watching the game, it reminded me a tad of some of the positions say Dennis Bergkamp would pick up," said Wright-Phillips.
"Back in the day, it was 4-4-2, but Dennis used to always drop away from the frontman, into those spaces in between the midfield and the defence.
"I think he (Kulusevski) is strong enough and he has the quality enough. Once he turns and drives at people, and makes those final third runs, he will create chances. This finish here (second Spurs goal at Old Trafford) was a special finish, for a winger/midfielder that is a strikers finish."
Dejan Kulusevski stepping up for Tottenham
You could argue that Kulusevski has been a bit of an underrated figure for Spurs and probably doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
The 24-year-old has probably found his best position in those central areas because it then allows him to showcase his technical skills a lot more.
READ MORE:Jamie Carragher says £43m Tottenham player has actually been really bad this season
Out wide, and especially in a Postecoglou system, there is more of a demand to use your pace and beat your man, which aren’t the strengths of Kulusevski’s game.
But, as of this moment, and with James Maddison alongside him, Postecoglou has found a combination that is certainly working.
