Dejan Kulusevski has suggested that Tottenham may need to rethink their tactics following the recent drubbing by Liverpool.
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou attributed the heavy defeat not to their aggressive style but to a spate of injuries, as he remains steadfast in his gung-ho approach, despite shipping six goals against the league frontrunners.
Despite the setback which sees Spurs languishing in 11th place, Kulusevski, who acknowledges fatigue was a significant factor, is advocating for the squad to absorb lessons from their errors and to consider more prudent strategies when facing certain teams. The Swedish midfielder, while supportive of Postecoglou's bold strategy, believes that some adjustments might be in order.
Kulusevski questioned the sustainability of their current method, stating: "No, maybe not. But you have to improve, you have to find ways.
"Maybe we should have let them have the ball more but that's not how we play. We went out, we gave everything. It didn't work, maybe we’ll learn for the next time.
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"We have to [compromise]. We have to learn because we conceded six goals. I can't sit here and say that we're doing something perfectly, we're not.
"We have to change a little bit for the better, we always have to try to change for the better."
The exhaustion from Thursday’s Carabao Cup victory over Manchester United was cited by Kulusevski as a key reason for their lacklustre performance, with Postecoglou also missing his top goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and most of his preferred defensive lineup.
Liverpool had the advantage of an extra day's rest after their win over Southampton, and Arne Slot's decision to rotate his squad heavily was noted by Kulusevski. The Spurs winger believes such factors must be considered in future tactical planning.
He said: "If you want to get a result, maybe you have to think about how we are physically? Who's playing? How many games have we played in the last week? Who are we playing? Have they rested for one week or something?
"You have to put everything in [to consideration] because it is like life. It’s not just black and white, you know, it's a lot of factors going into it."
Despite the heavy defeat, Kulusevski found solace in Tottenham's reaction to being 5-1 down, saying: "I said to myself, if you want to play, play now."
"It’s easy to play when you're winning. It's easy to play when everything is going good. If you want to be a man, step up now and do your best.
"And that's what we did, and honestly, when we scored to make it 5-3, I said that we're gonna do it.
"It was so frustrating to see the ball go in [for 6-3] and after that the game is over. But I really thought that it could happen, something special."
