Tottenham returned to the top of the Premier League table thanks to a 2-0 win at home to Fulham, with Ange Postecoglou’s men making the most of less fixture congestion
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Ange Postecoglou hails Tottenham’s ‘outstanding’ pressing in win over Fulham
Dejan Kulusevski has claimed Tottenham have an advantage over their Premier League rivals because they are not playing in Europe this season.
Ange Postecoglou’s team returned to the top of the table by beating Fulham to give the Aussie the best ever start to a Premier League campaign for a new coach. And Spurs can go five points clear by beating Crystal Palace on Friday night in a week where all of the other teams in the top nine are playing in Europe.
“It helps a lot, honestly, it helps a lot,” said the former Juventus star. “Physically, I remember last season was very hard playing three games a week. You feel very tired in the warm-ups. Also, mentally, not having to travel to Spain or Italy to play games helps.
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“You are at home, with your family. You have a good rest mentally, also, so it is a huge thing that we have and we have to take advantage of that this year. It gives us an an edge over our rivals for sure. You can feel the difference and hopefully, you will see even more at the end of the season.”
Leicester famously won the title against the odds in 2016 a year after escaping relegation while Chelsea won the title in Conte’s first season the following year when they were also not playing in Europe. “It is too early to talk about the title race because we will see what happens,” Kulusevski added.
“You have got to have fun. Everything can change every day so we don’t need to talk about that but we must live for the day with a smile, train hard and not forget who we are. We must try to get better every day.”
Despite racking up a record 23 points in his first nine Premier League, that is what Postecoglu demanded after blasting the “wasteful” second half performance in the 2-0 win over Fulham. “We felt it, of course, when we were playing,” said the Swede.
“Normally in the second half we play our best so it was a little bit strange but we have just got to come back stronger and keep the ball better. In attack, we lost too many easy balls so it can happen. We are humans so we have to come away from that and think of Friday.”
Pierre-Emile Hojberg, who made his first Premier League start of the season, added: “Personally I felt the quality on the ball dropped a bit, but again we always know the first game back from the internationals is always a challenge.
“I think it is game by game and it is important to try to improve. Improve every single week and try to see where we can take it. I think you have to live with the pressure, assume the pressure but again it is about improving and looking at yourself week in, week out.
England star James Maddison netted his first goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Kulusevski added: “He is very good. As soon as he has the ball I try to make as many runs as possible. He is good at dribbling, passing and also scoring so he adds a lot to our team.”
