Son Heung-min merits wider acclaim as Tottenham’s ultimate team player delivers again
The South Korean forward added another signature goal to his immense collection in a 3-1 win over Leicester to boost Spurs’ top four hopes
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Your support makes all the difference.A few minutes before Son Heung-min let fly for that glorious second goal, Antonio Conte called the forward over.
He was going to take Son off, particularly as he wanted to give Steven Bergwijn more minutes.
The Korean then offered another spectacular moment. He divinely curled the ball into the top corner of Kasper Schmeichel’s net, the ball swerving just as it reached the goal, with the only surprise about such a sensational strike being that it came with his left.
Then again, that’s not such a surprise with Son. Conte made that clear when he called him over again.
As he gave Son a big hug at the end of the match, the Italian asked: “What is your favourite foot, left or right?”
Conte admitted the Korean is one of the most two-footed strikers he’s ever managed. It offers a double threat, to go with his double act with Harry Kane.
There is an irony there, though. For all the focus on the duo, as they increased their Premier League record of goals where they have linked up, so much of the concentration is on Kane.
The constant discussion at Tottenham Hotspur is whether the English forward might eventually go, and what they would do in that situation. Son is largely ignored in that regard.
Even more oddly, there hasn’t even been that much interest in him.
Bayern Munich are among the few clubs to have expressed anything even approaching serious interest - which is remarkable given Son’s output. It is not just that he is so prolific and so productive.
It is that he has a personal catalogue of spectacular goals, each one special in different ways.
He could have his own personal competition. There was this against Leicester City, a similar curled effort against Arsenal, albeit with his other foot, the run against Burnley, the backheel away to Watford, the strike against West Ham United… and they are just the most obvious examples.
He really is a modern Premier League great, up there with Gareth Bale in terms of his contribution to Spurs, and undeniably the finest player to have appeared in the competition from Asia.
That’s quite an accolade, but he’s quite a player.
It makes the lack of buzz about him outside Spurs all the more curious. Some of that is perhaps down to the sort of personality that Son is, that helps make him such a good player.
He is so studiously and diligently focused on his game, the ultimate professional. He doesn’t have an entourage, and doesn’t have anyone around him agitating for moves.
Son certainly isn’t a “jouer instagram”, as Conte is supposed to have referenced in his reported negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain.
On that, there were a few other pointed comments from the Italian after Spurs’ 3-1 win over Leicester City.
He stressed that for the club to even be competing for a Champions League place is “an achievement”, given where they were in November. In other words, no matter what happens, he has been a success. There is actually a fair argument that’s the case, for all the commotion about Conte’s own agitations.
There is also the fact he is clearly trying to push the team on. Another telling comment came after a long elaboration on Son’s qualities.
“It’s important at the end of the season to celebrate a big achievement with the team, otherwise it remains only a personal achievement to score so many amazing goals.”
No one could ever criticise Son for not being a team player, or any kind of individualist. He again elevated Spurs in this game.
Conte’s message, not for the first time, felt like it was for the benefit of the whole club. It’s just as well they have Son.
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