Dejan Kulusevski believes Ange Postecoglou’s fun football can bring more great results following Tottenham’s swashbuckling win against Manchester United.
A challenging year for everyone connected to Spurs was compounded on the eve of the season when star turn Harry Kane completed his much-discussed move to Bayern Munich.
Tottenham showed promise and resilience to draw 2-2 at Brentford the following day and this weekend summer appointment Postecoglou celebrated his first win since taking charge.
United started strongly but Spurs eventually kicked into gear, with Pape Sarr’s strike and a Lisandro Martinez own goal secured a thrilling 2-0 win at a rocking Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“It was fantastic in the stadium today,” winger Kulusevski said. “Very, very good support from the fans.
“We want to make them happy and we are happy that we made them happy today.
“I think football has to be fun. That’s why we started playing and that’s when great results can come.
“So, it’s a great start to start having fun and then improve. Always have fun, then keep improving and we will be good.”
Kulusevski echoed Son Heung-min’s view on Postecoglou’s approach after the new captain said “it’s really, really fun” and “more enjoyable for the Spurs fans”.
Asked how his game has changed under the Australian, the Sweden international said: “A little bit, of course, because it’s more offensive.
“I don’t have to be more as a wing-back when we’re defending so I’m enjoying it a lot.
“I learn a lot of things every day. I like that because I’m still young, so it’s still good to go every day, to hear new things and keep improving.”
Kulusevski provided the cross that deflected into Sarr’s path for the opener on Saturday, but his wait for a goal stretches back to January’s 4-2 defeat Manchester City.
The 23-year-old’s goalless streak clearly frustrated the attacking midfielder, who says the whole Spurs squad need to chip in to help fill the void left by Kane.
“I had a good game, I just need to score,” Kulusevski said. “That’s all. “I just need to score and I try to find the right pass. I think that’s the only thing that’s missing in my game right now.
“We have to all do it and right now we’re doing it, everybody’s involved in the goal so that’s a good thing.
“The more people that score, we’re going to need that because we don’t have the 30 goals from Harry.
“He probably watched, yeah, for sure. We’re playing good. I think we’re doing the right thing every day but we’ve got to keep winning.
“Today we’re all happy about but tomorrow forget about it, keep improving and work harder.”
Spurs return to action at Bournemouth next Saturday lunchtime, while United will look to get back to winning ways against Nottingham Forest later that afternoon.
Skipper Bruno Fernandes held his hands up for a poor miss during a period of first half dominance for the Red Devils, who ultimately lost their way in north London.
“It’s about understanding what we did wrong in this game,” the Portuguese said.
“How we concede the goals, what we can do better, getting more ruthless when we are in front of the goal, understanding that we have to score that first goal.
“The meaning of the first goal, as the manager speaks so many times (about), and even more so now we’re at home.
“We know how it is with our fans there, they will be pushing for us.
“I think we have to understand that we’re in a good position still, it’s the beginning of the season.
“Obviously we don’t want to lose points straight away but we did and there’s nothing that we can do now apart from going into the next game and get the three points.”
Howe taking plenty of positives despite frustrating Newcastle campaign
Eddie Howe was keen to look at the positives after Newcastle United secured seventh place in the Premier League on Sunday.
Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes were among the goalscorers as Newcastle won 4-2 at Brentford to finish their Premier League campaign.
The victory ensured a seventh-place finish, and a Manchester City victory over Manchester United in next Saturday's FA Cup final will confirm Newcastle's place in next season's Europa Conference League.
While this season did not quite live up to the heroics of last term, which saw the Magpies finish in the Champions League spots, Howe still feels it has been a successful campaign.
"It summed up our season," Howe told BBC Sport. "We weren't totally secure at the back, but great credit to the players. They've done their job - now we wait and see.
"We anticipated after losing against Manchester United that our control of the [European] situation had gone. It's never a nice situation, but whatever happens, happens.
"We have issues to solve defensively. If we can do that, next season could be another season of really strong performances. This was a season that could have been better, but a good season overall.
"We're a really united club. I think we're still moving forward, so there's a lot to be positive about."
Postecoglou will not settle until Tottenham hit his 'lofty ambitions'
Ange Postecoglou warned Tottenham he will not settle until the club hits the "lofty ambitions" targeted in his mind.
Spurs were 3-0 victors over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Sunday, ending their Premier League season with a convincing win to finish fifth in the table.
Postecoglou voiced his frustrations after Tuesday's 2-0 defeat to Manchester City ended their hopes of Champions League football next term.
The Spurs head coach was far more relaxed after his side performed well in Sheffield, with Dejan Kulusevski twice on target, along with a goal for Pedro Porro against the relegated Blades.
Yet Postecoglou insisted his ambitions remain high as the Australian attempts to take Tottenham to the next level.
"Contrary to my general demeanour, I have loved every minute of it," former Celtic boss Postecoglou said of his first season in charge of Tottenham.
"It is a great challenge in the Premier League and taking over a big club that didn't have a great year last year. You understand it is not going to run smoothly, but I have enjoyed the whole season.
"I have got some lofty ambitions for the football club and until we reach that point I am not going to be smiling too much.
"As I said, all any manager wants is maximum effort and I have got that from everyone involved. I have enjoyed it and looking forward to pushing on from here."
Asked to summarise his first campaign in England's top league, Postecoglou continued: "It's been good, it's been eventful, it's had a bit of everything.
"I am obviously not delighted with the way we finished the season but in fairness to the players and staff we have been in the top five all season, in a year where there was a fair bit of upheaval.
"We finished eighth last year, player turnover, different football, different way of training, it is not easy to maintain a level when you are trying to do that.
"Even in our tough periods this year we have still been competitive for the most part."
Kulusevski scored his seventh and eighth Premier League goals of the season (36 outings), more than he managed in his first two league campaigns with Tottenham combined (seven across 48 games).
Only in the 2019-20 season with Parma has the Sweden winger scored more times in a league season (10 in Serie A), and Postecoglou hailed Kulusevski's returns.
He added: "I thought Deki was good. He's worked awfully hard this year without a lot of reward in the front third.
"We thought playing him through middle today would help us with his mobility and ability to run in behind. He did well.
"He always works hard but it's that sort of final third where we need him to get rewards and he got them today so he did well."
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
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