Signing for a new club in the middle of a season is never easy, but January signing Dejan Kulusevski made the adaptation to English football look easy. The Swedish international had impressed in Italy with Parma and then with Juventus, but a failure to fit into the system of new coach Max Allegri seen the Swede moved on. Spurs made the move and grabbed one of the hottest talents in Europe for a very fair price. Now settled in and happy at the club, Kulusevski has been speaking to local media more regularly.
In a recent interview with Sky Sports, the Swede admits that his time with Antonio Conte has been eye-opening. The Italian is regarded as one of the most committed winners in the sport today, and his ‘obsession’ as Kulusevski puts it is unmatched.
Put simply, Conte has no interest in players, coaches, or fans enjoying themselves at the game. Victory is the ultimate satisfaction and enjoyment for the head coach, and he expects his players to buy into that philosophy too. Given how many coaches Spurs have had who focused on entertainment over anything else, this is actually quite a refreshing take to hear from the coach.
In the interview, Kulusevski said of Conte: “He always tells me, don’t enjoy it, don’t have fun. You are not here to have fun, you are here to win games and to score, to attack the goal.
“Don’t pass too much, don’t be in your zone. He just wants one thing, winning. He doesn’t want joy, or any of that. He wants to win because he’s a winner. I’m so grateful to have him because I have never seen something like it. I’ve never seen anyone so in love with winning. I think that’s going to take me and the team to the next level.”
Conte keen to building improved winning mentality
Ask any Spurs fans, and the ‘loser mentality’ that has engulfed the club for much of the Premier League era is a curse around the club. It has stopped otherwise talented teams from achieving greatness. This is most visibly seen during the Mauricio Pochettino era, when a legitimate chance at winning honours in Europe and at home was passed up. The season where Leicester City won the title, leaving a more talented Spurs team in their wake, will be one that lives in the memory for the wrong reasons.
Fans today, though, would probably feel confident of winning that title if Conte was in charge. No harm to Pochettino, but Spurs have arguably never had a coach like Conte. His desire to win at the very top level goes beyond simply wishing to build something, or develop a culture. Conte is here to win trophies, to elevate his own CV, and to leave Spurs in a better place.
Pochettino helped to elevate Spurs back into the realm of being a respected club at European level. Meltdowns at the highest level, though, still took place. Conte, if he has his way, will eradicate this fatalism from the club.
Leave a Reply