Dejan Kulusevski says Ange Postecoglou makes Tottenham 'brave', reflects on playing with Cristiano Ronaldo

Dejan Kulusevski says Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou is "different to any other coach" he has played under, as he revealed his feeling that the Australian makes his players "brave".

The Sweden international has scored six Premier League goals so far in his first official season as a Spurs player - having made a permanent switch after a rollercoaster loan period.

Kulusevski had been frozen out at Juventus and he has opened up to The Players’ Tribune about how desperate he was to break away from Turin.

“As a footballer, I was in a bad place,” he said.

“I had barely started a game at Juventus for six months. I knew I had to get away."

After a tough start to life in London, Kulusevski turned his fortunes around, getting the Tottenham fans on side with his displays of pace, trickery and determination.

Injuries and poor form in the second season of his loan spell threatened to disrupt his progress, however a change of management saw Ange Postecoglou arrive at the club - and Kulusevski’s permanent move was rubber-stamped shortly after.

Kulusevski has lauded the atmosphere at Spurs saying: “Playing for this club is like being part of a family.

“I think a lot of our family atmosphere is down to Ange. Ange is brave, and he makes you brave.

“He doesn’t say a lot, but when he speaks, we can listen for hours. You can tell that he’s been through a lot, and he often talks about what he learned from his father.

“He is different from any other coach I’ve had. Everybody talks about tactics and winning, and that’s good, but with Ange it means a little bit more, because it’s about you as a person. It’s about you as a man and what you believe in.

"Ange says, 'I don’t care if we lose, because everyone loses in life. If we lose, we’re going to lose on our terms. Never go away from being you.'”

Despite being honest about his struggles to hit the heights needed to succeed at Juventus, Kulusevski does not regret his time with the Italian club - largely due to two of football’s most iconic characters.

“My period at Juventus was a chance to learn from legends," he said.

“I got to know Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] when he made his comeback for Sweden — at the age of 39 — and he was like, 'Listen, I'm too nice to you guys. You should see me in Milan'.

“I didn't know what he meant until I visited his house one day and he told me he was training seven hours a day. Seven hours! The guy is 42 now and he’s still posting pictures and videos of himself training like an animal.

“What the hell is he training for?! Nobody knows.

“He’s just being Zlatan.”

There was also the small matter of training and playing alongside five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

Reflecting on his time with the Portugal captain, Kulusevski said: “What a guy, man.

“After training everyone would be on their phones, tap, tap tap, but not him.

“You could see how hard he worked, how much he wanted it, even though he had nothing left to prove.

“I gotta be honest, I have never been the type to ask team-mates for favours, but I asked Cristiano to sign his shirt, and I gave it to my mother.

“Five years earlier we had been talking about me moving back to Sweden, maybe get a normal job. Now I was playing with one of the greatest of all time.”

- - -

TNT Sports presents the premium live sports rights previously carried by BT Sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination. You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.