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Writer's pictureJames Barnes

Do Tottenham rely on Son too much?

Heung-Min Son had just come back to the squad following South Korea's exit in the semi final of the AFC Asia Cup against Jordan and has already registered a game-winning assist for the Lilywhites.


Tottenham star Heung-Min Son joined in the 2015 summer transfer window and although he had a slow first season, he would bounce forward in the next seasons up until the present day. Throughout his Spurs career thus far, he has scored 162 goals and has registered 89 assists in 413 appearances in all competitions. This totals to 251 goal contributions in total in 413 appearances which eqyates to 0.6 contributions per game.


So far this season, Son has 12 goals and 6 assists in 21 games in the Premier League. His 18 goal involvments result in him being involved in more than a third (35%) of Tottenham's goals through either assisting them or scoring them. His goals were especially prevalent during the start of the season, scoring 8 in the opening 10 Premier League games of the season as Spurs charged to an early lead at the top of the table, going undefeated in this time.



However, since then, Son's productivity has dropped off, which may be as a result of injuries, but also resulted in the team's position in the lead sink to a point of battling with Aston Villa for 4th in the current stage of the season and now 7 points off of the elusive top spot in the Premier League.


Historically, Son has always been this player for Spurs too. When they have needed a goal, he has usually been the one called upon, especially in the absence of Harry Kane. One such instance is the 1st leg of the Champions League Quarter-final tie in 2019 against Manchester City. It was the first European match to take place in the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and it had been a newsworthy match prior to Son's impact.





Lloris kept the score at 0-0 with a save from an Aguero penalty and Kane was forced off the field with an injury after a heavy collision with Fabian Delph. With a little over 10 minutes to go, Son will miraculously keep the ball in play and score the only goal of the game to put City on the backfoot prior to the 2nd leg of the tie. Tottenham would end up winning the tie on away goals.


Son has also gotten the best out of all attackers he has played alongside too. He and Dele Alli had a blossoming friendship and were a part of one of the more formiddable attacks of the 2016/2017 season across the whole of Europe. Son's partnership with the talisman of the attack would break all sorts of duo records with them combining for 47 goals prior to Kane's departure for Munich in the summer. More impressively, Son has gotten the confidence of Richarlison to shine through on the pitch now as he has 10 goals for the Lilywhites this season; a massive improvement from his 1 goal from last season.


However, Tottenham have one win without Kane or Son in their team in the last 5 years. That win came with their recent 3-2 win against Brentford. This over reliance on their now talisman following Kane's departure could be the same mistake that they had with Kane for the past few years. Despite that, Son does not have the frequent injury reputation Kane had for a number of years. Although with an ageing Son who is now 31, Postecoglou may need to move away from the over reliance on the South Korean superstar.








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