Yahoo Sports Tottenham can score four against anyone, says James Maddison after Dejan Kulusevski predicted Aston Villa rout
James Maddison says Tottenham are confident of scoring "four goals in a half against any team" after their latest comeback over Aston Villa, while Dejan Kulusevski has revealed he told his team-mates at half-time: "If we score one, we will score four."
Ange Postecoglou's side produced a characteristic home turnaround to beat their top-four rivals 4-1, with Maddison scoring a brilliant direct free-kick in stoppage-time after Brennan Johnson's equaliser and a double from Dominic Solanke. It was the third time Spurs scored four at home in in five league games.
Spurs trailed to Morgan Rogers' goal from a corner but Spurs were transformed after the break, with Maddison revealing Postecoglou remained composed during the interval.
"We turned the screw and they couldn’t live with our intensity," Maddison told Standard Sport. "But that’s why the manager at half-time stayed so calm, because he knows that we have got a chance to blow teams away in quick periods.
What I said to the lads at half-time is if we score one, we will score four – and exactly that happened
Dejan Kulusevski
"You know, even at 1-0, he’s just like, ‘get your head up’. We know we can go and score four goals in a half against any team because that is what we do with our intensity. Thankfully that’s exactly what we did. And we blew them away.”
Kulusevski, who assisted Solanke's first goal, added: "[It was] very bad to go out 1-0 to them [from] the corner, it makes everything difficult.
"What I said to the lads at half-time is if we score one, we will score four – and exactly that happened. As soon as we scored one with a lovely cross from Sonny and a good finish from Brennan, after I knew we were going to win.
“Because it happens so many times. Always the same story. That was what I thought about.”
Asked if Spurs were happier attacking their single-tier South Stand, as they did in the second half on Sunday, Kulusevski added: “Yeah, exactly. That’s one thing you know when you are playing second half, there will be more space, the crowd is behind you. Like I told you, score one goal and the game will be over.”
Spurs have now won seven of their last nine games in all competitions, although they remain unconvincing on the road following the back-to-back away defeats to Brighton and Crystal Palace.
Kulusevski believes Spurs still must improve against the league's so-called smaller clubs, particularly on their travels.
"When you lose those games, you know, it hurts a lot," Kulusevski added. "You can’t lose those games if you want to be at the top.
"I think we have to improve in those games. Especially away, tough games, with the referee, it’s not easy. The crowd is on the pitch. It’s a small pitch. They play very physically. I think those are games we have to improve. Not the games against City or Aston Villa. I know we can play those type of games.”
Asked if Spurs preferred playing more established sides, the Swede added: “Yeah, of course. It is like that. Because like I told you, when you go out it’s a different sport sometimes. It is completely different things that you need to bring to the table.”
