Son Heung-min is still in his prime.
“ESPN,” a global sports media outlet, unveiled the best 11 in the 2023 Premier League (PL) on the 26th (Korea time). Son Heung-min, Erling Holland, Mohamed Salah, Martin ᄋᅀᅳᅵdegaard, Declan Rice, Rodri, Dan Burn, Azri Konsa, William Saliba, Kyle Walker, and Emiliano Martinez were on the list.
“When Harry Kane was transferred to Bayern Munich this summer, the biggest question was how Tottenham would replace Kane. Kane has always been an irreplaceable player, but Son Heung-min has taken a step further since Kane left. His goals and performances helped spark Tottenham’s championship race,” ESPN said.
Tottenham produced disappointing results last season. Antonio Conte left the team during the season with critical comments about Tottenham, and Christian Stellini, the acting coach, was also replaced. Tottenham finished the season in eighth place and failed to advance to European leagues.
Tottenham made a new start by appointing Postecoglou as coach to dispel their regret over last season. Postecoglou drew attention last season when he led Celtic to achieve the domestic treble. He dominated the Scottish league, but he also received attention due to his lack of experience in the big leagues.
Postecoglou has made a lot of changes since his appointment to Tottenham. Postecoglou has made changes in defense and midfielder. Tottenham came out as a three-back for a long time, but returned to four-back. He chose a combination of Van der Ben and Christian Romero as the center back instead of Eric Dier, who was pointed out as the cause of defense instability.
Pedro Poro came out at the right fullback, and Destiny Udogi was selected as the left fullback. The goalkeeper has also changed. Instead of Hugo Lloris, Guglielmo Vicario defended the goal. Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma were used as two central midfielders. Sarr and Bissouma did not receive many opportunities under Conte, but they served as Tottenham’s engine under Postecoglou. The attacking midfielder was recruit James Medicine.
Postecoglou has also formed a new captaincy team. Son has become Tottenham’s captain ahead of the season. Under the leadership of Enje Postecoglou, Hugo Lloris and Eric Dier, former captains, were excluded from the team’s roster, and as Harry Kane left for Bayern Munich, Son naturally came to wear the captain’s armband.
Tottenham said on its website, “Son Heung-min has been appointed as our team’s captain. Son Heung-min inherited the captain’s armband from Lloris. Medicine and Christian Romero became new vice-captain. Son, who is also the captain of the Korean national soccer team, is now in his ninth season after joining Tottenham.”
In the opening match, Son performed below expectations. Although he showed two threatening shots as a left winger, he did not score a goal. In addition, Son fouled out of Tottenham’s penalty box and conceded a penalty kick. Fortunately, goals from Christian Romero and Emerson Royal drew with Brentford 2-2.
Son appeared as a left winger, but looked different from before. Rather than solving the problem himself, he was more of a helper who created opportunities for his teammates. Manager Enze Postecoglou appointed Hishalisson to the forefront. However, as Hishalisson was sluggish like last season, Son began to post one-top as he did. Then, Son’s scoring ability came to life.
For Tottenham, Kane was vacant a lot. Kane was raised in Tottenham Youth. In the early days of his professional debut, he gained experience by moving around on a loan, and returned to Tottenham Hotspur and developed into a leading striker. Kane showed off his best performance ever by winning three PL scoring titles and one PL helping title. Of the 70 goals that Tottenham scored last season, Kane scored 30 goals. Kane was a Tottenham attack itself.
Kane was transferred to Munich this summer, and Postecoglou considered Hischalisson a substitute for Kane. Hischalisson came to Tottenham Hotspur for 60 million pounds (98.7 billion won) in last season’s transfer fee. He had one goal at the end of the season, leaving much regret. Hischalisson’s slump continued this season. He lacked the capacity to play his part in the front line. He lacked the capacity to guard the ball and lacked the capacity to make decisions for the strikers.
For this reason, Postecoglou appointed Son as the one-top. It was a success. He came to the forefront for the first time in the match against Burnley in the fourth round, and achieved a hat trick to repay Postecoglou’s trust. Since then, Son’s scoring ability has been revived and he has also joined the race for the top scorer. Amid Son’s performance, Tottenham gained enough momentum to even consider a championship competition.
Thanks to Son Heung-min’s stellar performance, Tottenham displayed good momentum early in the season. They remained undefeated through the 10th round and took the lead in the league. However, the mood was down starting from the match against Chelsea in the 11th round. Tottenham led the way by scoring a goal early in the day.
However, there was a variable. Christian Romero fouled in the penalty box, gave up a penalty kick, and was sent off for a dangerous tackle. With Cole Palmer’s successful penalty kick, the game became square one, and Tottenham fell outnumbered. Bad news overlapped. Mickey Van der Ben collapsed while defending and left the ground.
Tottenham managed to stay strong even with just one player out. However, as Destiny Udogi was sent off with accumulated warnings, its momentum shifted to Chelsea. Tottenham had nine players but raised the line to play. It overcame the crisis due to Guglielmo Vicario’s brilliant defense, but it collapsed in the end. Tottenham lost 1-4 by conceding three goals and ended up with an unbeaten run.
It also suffered upset losses in the matches against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa, falling to three consecutive losses. Tottenham faced Manchester City amid a bad trend. As Tottenham was strong against Manchester City, it had no intention of backing down.
Ahead of the match, Postecoglou said, “The players must be thinking, ‘Does this really work against Manchester City?’. That’s a legitimate question for them to ask. My role is to show that this is the way we are going to go.”
“In order for us to be a successful team, we have to trust the soccer we want to play. The results of the last games were not good, but the players did not feel it was difficult. The players felt that there was something we were good at. There were a lot of absentees, but you can see that we are still a good team,” he added.
Tottenham took the lead in the game. Again, the main character was Son Heung-min. In the 6th minute of the first half, Tottenham quickly developed an attack and took the lead first. Son Heung-min, who received Dejan Kluzewski’s pass, shot after competing and shook the net.
Shortly thereafter, Manchester City struck a balance. Son Heung-min was at the center again this time. In the 9th minute of the first half, Erling Holland hit Julián Álvarez’s cross on the head. Later, Son Heung-min’s own goal was scored after being hit in the leg. Manchester City succeeded in turning the tables. In the 31st minute of the first half, Phil Foden faced a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper through Jeremy Doku and Álvarez, and calmly resolved the situation. The first half ended with Tottenham trailing 1-2.
Tottenham tied the score with Giovanni Lo Celso’s goal. In the 24th minute of the second half, Davis blocked Manchester City’s attack and Tottenham launched the attack. Lo Celso, who received a pass from Son Heung-min, cut the net with a powerful left-footed shot.
Manchester City was not an easy team. Manchester City took the lead again. In the 36th minute of the second half, Rodri took Bissouma’s ball and connected to Holland. Grealish, who received Holland’s pass, scored a goal. Tottenham came out aggressively at the end of the game and scored a dramatic goal. In the 45th minute of the second half, Kluzewski scored Johnson’s cross with a header. The game ended 3-3.
Although the team had no win in four matches, it was encouraging to draw with Manchester City, the world’s best team, amid a bad trend. Tottenham Hotspur in the 15th round had a chance to win against West Ham in a long time. Again, Tottenham led the game with the first goal. Unfortunately, however, Gerod Bowen scored an equalizer after hitting Tottenham’s defense, and allowed Tottenham to come from behind as Udo-ki’s fatal pass missed. In the end, Tottenham ended up with a come-from-behind 1-2 loss.
He came out as a left winger again from the match against Newcastle United in the 16th round. Son’s power remained the same. He demolished the team through a devastating breakthrough on the left side and helped Destiny Udogi and Hisalisson’s goal. In the second half, he scored a penalty kick that he secured. Son scored the finishing goal in the match against Everton and scored his 11th goal in the league. Thanks to Son’s performance, Tottenham won three consecutive games 헤라카지노.
At the request of Pochettino, Son started to play in the PL, wearing Tottenham’s uniform. In the early days of his transfer to the PL, he had ups and downs. In the beginning of his transfer to the PL, he lacked performance. His touch was inaccurate and his movement was not good. He considered returning to the Bundesliga again, but chose to take on a challenge. Son has grown as he makes up for his shortcomings.
As the seasons have continued, Son has established himself as the main scorer of Tottenham. Notably, Son has grown into the best duo in the PL along with Kane. Son and Kane scored 47 goals together, displaying perfect chemistry. He is the No. 1 player in the PL history. Son has 24 goals and Kane 23 goals, which is also fantastic in scoring ratio. Tottenham produced rapid attack mainly with Son and Kane at the center.
The peak was the 2021-22 season. Kane and Tottenham were sluggish, but Son showed off his powerful scoring ability. Son scored 23 goals and tied for the top scorer in the PL along with Mohamed Salah. Son became the first Asian player to top five league goals. Son moved into the ranks of world class. At the time, Son scored 23 goals without a penalty kick.
However, he suffered from a hernia in sports last season. It was not as explosive as it was before. Son also started from the bench in the early part of the season. Moreover, he suffered a major orbital fracture in the UCL, so he wore a mask and played in matches. As the 2022 Qatar World Cup has overlapped, he has physically and physically exhausted himself.
Son confessed his hard time with hernia. “Every game in the last season hurt a lot. The last game in particular hurt a lot. I really wanted to give up the final game against Leeds United. It literally hurt every moment.” Despite this, he scored 10 goals and made six assists in the league.
He successfully completed his surgery this summer. Son pledged to take a new leap forward through the pre-season. “I want to show you that Sonny, who we all know this season, is still there,” Son said during the pre-season. Son keeps his word and takes charge of Tottenham’s attack.