Fitness, form, freedom, family - a fascinating interview with Deki

As well as some outstanding performances on the pitch, Dejan Kulusevski is also known for his searing honesty in interviews, and he was great value again after his Man of the Match display in our 4-1 win against West Ham.

Speaking pitchside with the Review Show team, including legendary former striker Clive Allen, Deki was asked about his role in our fine victory, the thought process behind his equalising goal, playing centrally and

Here’s what he had to say…

You were everywhere, got yourself on the scoresheet - what pleased you most?

Deki: “That we won. That’s the most important thing. The second half was very good, we were very clinical and killed the game in the first 10 minutes.”

It looks to us like you’ve gone on to another level - do you know what that is down to?

Deki: “Yes, I know. Every year I get better and better because I understand what I’m doing wrong and understanding things to improve. This was my plan in the summer, to work on the things I wanted to work on, I changed my mindset, started training even more than before, and this is only the beginning. I know I can play much better than this, so I want to keep improving and to become one of the best players in the world.”

Is this physically, so you can cover more ground, to be stronger, quicker?

Deki: “I changed my training routine, you can’t understand everything when you’re young, so, every year you get experience, and you improve in every side of the football.”

Talk to us about your goal - it’s so clever as goalkeepers would expect you to aim for the far post, but you cut it inside to beat him…

Deki: “This goal, I haven’t done in a long time and that’s frustrating, because I need to these things. Today, I’ve done it and helped the team. I have to become much more dangerous and score more goals, so I’m very pleased with that today.”

Is it a natural, instinctive thing, or did you quickly think, ‘I’m going near post’?

Deki: “It’s just natural. It’s when you put the ball down and you have a feeling when to shoot. Sometimes that feeling is wrong, sometimes it’s right and today it was right.”

Clive Allen: The thing that jumped out to me in your performance was the freedom you have, the areas you kept popping up in, the problems you caused for West Ham because of that freedom - you looked to be enjoying that...

Deki: “They can’t know how to defend me when I don’t even know where I am going, because it’s all instinct.”

Clive: It looked like you knew where you were going!

Deki: “It’s all freedom and every game is different. Finally, I have that freedom, my team-mates trust me, the coach trusts me because when I play like this, this is my position, it’s all instincts and I can hurt defenders in every kind of way.”

I remember you saying your sister was your harshest critic - has she messaged you yet?

Deki: “Yes, I just picked my phone up and she wants me to score or assist in every game, so when I do that, she says it’s okay!”

You speak so well and confidently around the motivation you have - who did you listen to, to pick that up? Where are you getting this sense of self-confidence, also, the motivation to drive forward?

Deki: “Honestly, I get inspiration from everywhere, from people working hard and doing the right things, good people, but then having a daughter, and then the people I look up to, like Kobe (Bryant) and MJ (Michael Jordan), because I think they were the strongest players mentally in the world, and I take a lot from them, and it helps me.”