Ange Postecoglou explains why Dejan Kulusevski was dropped from Spurs starting XI vs Fulham

Although Tottenham’s injuries make the team easier to predict, there were still some surprises when Spurs’ starting XI to face Fulham was announced on Sunday afternoon.

Dejan Kulusevski has been essential to Tottenham

With no word of an injury before the match, it was a shock to see Dejan Kulusevski’s name absent from the starting line-up against Fulham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Kulusevski has been a mainstay in Tottenham’s team so far this season, playing over 1000 minutes across all competitions and contributing 2 goals and 4 assists.

Tottenham were unable to take advantage of the Cottagers going down to ten men following Tom Cairney’s red card for a challenge on the Swede.

While Kulusevski came on for Timo Werner during the second half, he was not able to influence the game in the time he had on the pitch with Spurs being held to a 1-1 draw against Fulham.

Ange Postecgolou explains why Kulusevski did not start the match

Spurs manager, Ange Postcoglou was asked after full-time if Kulusevski starting the match on the bench was just to give the Spurs player ‘a breather’.

Postecolgou told Football.London: “Yeah, we’re going have to protect our players because as I said, we’re within our numbers and Deki has played every minute.

“I mean, I’ve rarely subbed him off. So we’ve just got to be careful with him and with a few others, but, you know, at the moment we just don’t have too many options, so we’ve just got to try and manage them the best we can and obviously that affects performance. I think he got through the game well, and I guess for Thursday should be in good shape.”

• READ: Tottenham 1-1 Fulham – Five things we learned from the disappointing draw

Spurs will need Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke for a challenging trip to Bournemouth

Bournemouth sit only two points behind Tottenham in the Premier League table and are a team capable of winning against anyone.

Bournemouth have already beat Manchester City and Arsenal while playing at home this season, so this is a fixture Spurs cannot afford to underestimate.

Let’s hope that Postecoglou’s assessment that Kulusevski will be ‘in good shape’ is correct as well as hopefully a return for Dominic Solanke.

Both of those players make Tottenham a far more substantial attacking threat when playing and additionally help Spurs’ other attackers perform better.

• READ: Tottenham v Fulham Player Ratings – Inconsistencies continue to kill any momentum

The post Ange Postecoglou explains why Dejan Kulusevski was dropped from Spurs starting XI vs Fulham appeared first on Spurs Web.