Tottenham Hotspur succumbed to another first division defeat in Sunday's match at Crystal Palace.
Spurs came into the London derby in good form with back-to-back wins in all competitions, and had the perfect opportunity to inflict further pain on the Eagles, who were languishing in 18th place after eight games of the league season.
However, their start to the game was unconvincing and a big defensive error by Micky van de Ven contributed to Jean-Philippe Mateta opening the scoring for Palace in the 31st minute. The goal was enough to seal Palace's first victory in the highest category.
Van de Ven had a terrible outing at Selhurst Park, but Dejan Kulusevski was equally frustrating as he struggled to impose himself from a midfield role. The Swede failed 1 great opportunity in front of the goal in his 62-minute performance yesterday.
He had only 16 accurate passes in the London derby with only 2 duels won out of 9 played. The 24-year-old committed 4 fouls in the match and was predictably substituted after the hour mark for his disappointing performance.
It's time to leave it
Kulusevski has had some good moments for Spurs this season, but the tactic of placing him in midfield to compensate for Brennan Johnson on the right wing has not worked.
The former Juventus player does not offer the necessary control compared to Pape Matar Sarr, for example. The Senegalese star has been knocking on the door for a regular starting role.
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou likes to play on the front foot and with an attacking mentality, but this has not paid off as the London team has lost almost every other match.
This needs to change as soon as possible and it might be time to move on from Kulusevski. He is a right-sided player and cannot operate on the left wing, where Spurs have lacked quality in the absence of Heung min-Son.
The Spurs have a great game against city of manchester in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. The competition could be Spurs' best chance to end their 16-year trophy drought.
