07 November 2023 , 13:35
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Dejan Kulusevski has admitted Tottenham lost their heads in the heat of the battle against Chelsea.
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou lost his unbeaten start to the campaign as bitter rivals Chelsea inflicted a humiliating defeat. It was also a bruising experience as Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were sent off and the latter was lucky not to see red even before getting his marching orders for a second yellow.
Tottenham winger Kulusevski admitted the occasion got to them and they were “too hyped up” for the London derby which is infamous for producing angry showdowns down the years. Chelsea infamously beat Tottenham in the Battle of the Bridge in 2016 to end Spurs’ title challenge and the atmosphere was red hot again on Monday night.
Kulusevski said: “The first 15 minutes were amazing, we played unbelievable football – some of the best so far in the season.
“But then we were too hyped up and did some bad tackles. In the end we paid for it. Was it poor discipline that cost the team? Yes, a little bit.
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“We want to win a lot and here with the fans, they help us up. Sometimes we tackle a little bit too hard, too strong and we pay for that. But it's good. We have to learn and we will learn.”
Kulusevski also praised the Spurs fans for cheering them even after Chelsea made it 3-1. It was a strange moment but the supporters clearly wanted to back the team after their impressive start to the campaign.
Michael Oliver signals to Son Heung-Min following a VAR monitor check before sending off Cristian Romero (Javier Garcia/REX/Shutterstock)He added: “It was unbelievable, honestly. Some things are bigger than life, bigger than football, bigger than the wins.
"Honestly, I was really proud of that moment and the fans. I was grateful and it makes me want to give more back.
“It has to give us fuel. We lost the game and we hate to lose. But we have to make sure this doesn’t happen again and we play 11 vs 11. We were very, very angry but the coach was very proud and the players, also. We played with two guys off and we still competed at a high level.”
Tottenham will be back in training on Wednesday to prepare for Wolves on Saturday and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg says they will be determined to bounce back, utilise the whole squad and also insisted they showed passion in defeat against Chelsea.
Hojbjerg said: “When we see each other on Wednesday, we'll gather the pieces and the focus. Everyone has to show their availability and show they are prepared to do what it takes.
“A good squad is not 11 players. It is 18 or 25 players. I think we went down with the flag held high against Chelsea. We gave it all but the result hurts a lot.”