Dejan Kulusevski clearly enjoys working with Ange Postecoglou; without him, the Tottenham Hotspur manager would be completely finished.
The pressure on Big Ange has been relentless in recent weeks. A ridiculous 4-0 victory at Premier League champions Manchester City has since been backed up by home draws against AS Roma and Fulham and demoralising defeats against Bournemouth and Chelsea. Consistent inconsistency has been a theme of Postecoglou’s Tottenham tenure and could be what sees him sacked.
Spurs have often thrived off chaos and their 1-1 draw against Rangers in the Europa League was absolutely chaotic. The pattern and pace of the game were not surprising – Rangers are also a wildly unpredictable team and in a difficult season, they actually hosted the Premier League side In A Good Moment as Postecoglou returned to Glasgow, where he won five major trophies in two years at Celtic.
It was a fantastic game for the neutral and was very nearly One Of Those Nights in Europe at Ibrox. There have been some memorable ones at Rangers’ home in recent years, particularly in the 2021/22 season when they beat the likes of RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund on their way to the Europa League final. It threatened to be another memorable result and it really ought to have been – Spurs were second best barring a 10-minute spell in which they equalised. Will they ever get another chance like this to beat a ‘top’ Premier League team?
Regardless, it was a fantastic, fast-paced match and a positive result for Spurs based on their overall performance. A defeat could have been the end for Postecoglou with a new cluster of fans losing patience with him after every game.
The match was fantastic because it was quite ridiculous, if truth be told. Both teams committed an uncanny amount of unforced errors, more so Spurs in what is a very tricky ground to play composed, passing football, and the visitors very nearly stole three points having been second best for the vast majority of the night.
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Postecoglou going back to Glasgow enhanced the narrative, while goalkeeper Fraser Forster also returned and was booed all evening. The Australian’s record in Old Firm derbies was good, winning six out of 11, while pipping them to almost every trophy in his two years at Celtic.
It would have been rather poetic had Rangers stuck the final nail in Big Ange’s Spurs coffin but Premier League quality eventually shone through courtesy of the brilliant Dejan Kulusevski, who has been head and shoulders above all of his teammates this season.
Brennan Johnson has chipped in with a handy amount of goals, Dominic Solanke is adapting well to his new team and Pedro Porro has been quality, but Kulusevski – who came on for Timo Werner at half-time – is doing more than anyone else to keep Postecoglou in his first Premier League job.
Postecoglou also had his fellow former Celt, Forster, to thank for keeping Spurs in it at Ibrox. Vaclav Cerny was absolutely bloody brilliant and albeit at a time fresh legs were needed, Rangers manager Philippe Clement made the bizarre decision to take him off. The substitution was instantly noticeable and going from Cerny to natural defender Dujon Sterling on the right wing showed the Belgian’s hand.
Mohamed Diomande was another who thrived for Rangers – dominating the midfield and successfully navigating 70 whole minutes on a yellow card. Meanwhile, Jefte and Ridvan Yilmaz were a constant danger on the left, James Tavernier had one of his best performances of the season and Hamza Igamane impressed up front on his own, with those two linking up for the hosts’ goal.
Igamane has replaced Cyriel Dessers as the Gers’ first-choice striker in Europe with Danilo not included in the Europa League squad but Spurs fans and others who have presumably never watched him were thankfully introduced to the man, the myth, the legend that is Dessers.
He is the most frustrating player in the world at times, regularly missing sitters, just as he did late on against Spurs. He also scored a comical offside goal, scoring with an unusual confidence having strayed a mere five yards beyond the last man. Of course he saves his best finishing after he disregarded the offside rule.
Spurs’ only positive spell came between the 70th and 85th minute, when they capitalised on their superior play to equalise, but they were back to being rattled again in the last five – when the Dessers comedy show ensued.
Kulusevski, along with Rangers’ misfiring striker, have helped buy Postecoglou some time and a trip to Southampton is quite frankly the perfect next fixture; no result from 1-0 Southampton to 10-0 Spurs would be a surprise.
Rangers have often found respite in European competition but the only respite Spurs have found has been whenever they share the pitch with Manchester City – which unfortunately can’t happen every week for them.
We witnessed one Spurs manager lose their head after a meltdown at Southampton, resulting in their exit, and we might be blessed with a repeat on Sunday. All while Rangers aim to do something Spurs fans can’t relate to: win a cup final.
Postecoglou will breathe a sigh of relief on Thursday night because a defeat at Ibrox could have been fatal, though a draw has not alleviated any pressure – it still feels like he is on borrowed time and losing his job could literally come down to whether or not Dejan Kulusevski can dig him out of another Spursy hole.
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