Struggle of Heung-Min Son and other key players at Spurs

National World - LocalTV

The struggle continues for the skipper.

Transcript

00:00Yeah, James, obviously looking at Spurs' side individually, you know, we've mentioned there's

00:05been so many factors as to why, you know, a lot of top Spurs players haven't been producing

00:11their very best. You know, Heung-Min Son is probably the key one, an absolute icon really

00:18in Spurs' recent history. He's been unbelievable in terms of the numbers, the output. Where

00:24do you sort of think it's gone wrong? Why do you think he's struggled? Is it simple

00:27as he's played so much football? Has there been, you know, added pressure on him to step

00:33up with the goals and it's just not fallen right? What's been the sort of difference

00:37Son this season compared to maybe last and the seasons a couple, you know, before he

00:42was completely untouchable and one of the most deadliest finishers in the world? Why

00:46has it sort of not worked and does he even get into Spurs' best 11 at the moment?

00:51Well, I think that's a really, really good question and I think you'd have to say on

00:55current form with returning players, his position in the team, you know, albeit he's

01:01the captain of the team and the club, might be under a little bit of threat because when

01:05Dominic Solanke comes back, he'll be the focal point. Does that mean that Matthijs Tel moves

01:09out onto the left-hand side? We've obviously got Wilson Odebeer coming back who can play

01:13that role as well. Brennan Johnson on the other side. We've got Kulaseski as well that

01:16can fill in on the flanks and then we've obviously got, you know, the young player Mikey Moore

01:20coming through and, you know, he deserves more minutes because he's been pretty good

01:24and we've seen him. So, lots of options for Possokoglu and, you know, some really big

01:28decisions ahead and I think you'd have to say on current form, you know, Hoomin Song

01:32probably needs a bit of a break. It's a bit of a mystery in terms of his form, to be honest

01:37with you. I mean, there's the obvious factors. He's had a hamstring injury, I think you picked

01:40that, he only just came back in against West Ham earlier in the season, scored a couple

01:44of goals that day but then got injured again. So, maybe he's carrying a knock. I think you've

01:49got to look at the amount of football that he plays as well. You know, he plays an awful

01:53lot of football, doing a lot of jet-setting back over to Korea, you know, for all the

01:57international breaks and, you know, over a number of years that really does take its

02:01toll on the legs. Maybe that's a factor and then I think you've also got to look at his

02:06confidence as well. He's missed some big, big chances and he just looks like he's void

02:10of confidence and then, you know, whether the leadership's just weighing a little bit

02:15heavy on him as well, could that be a factor? So, you know, there's a number of things that

02:19it could be. You know, there's no doubt in the fact that Son's still a world-class player.

02:24You know, he's shown in flashes and patches that he still has all the ability. You know,

02:29when he goes past a player, he's got two great feet, obviously left foot, right foot, but

02:33we're just missing that, you know, that sort of explosive Son, I guess, if you like. The

02:37Son that used to cut in from the left-hand side and, you know, smash the ball into the

02:41top corner with his right foot and vice versa and, you know, the crossing ability. It just

02:47seems to have just dropped off Emerson slightly and, you know, you can tell he's taking the

02:51extra touch. He's not quite confident enough to take his man on. So maybe, you know, as

02:56with a number of players now, he just needs to be given a little bit of a rest and I think

02:59certainly having those options coming back onto the flanks gives us, you know, a real

03:03good base to push on now for the rest of the season.

03:06Yeah, do you feel at all that he maybe misses the partnership with Harry Kane?

03:10Obviously, it's been a couple of seasons now, but that sort of partnership was unbelievable

03:15and maybe it's a case of not quite building another partnership like that just, you know,

03:20so far with some of these new players.

03:22Do you feel like that's maybe another factor that could be impacting Son's form?

03:28Well, I mean, I think you take Harry Kane out of any team and, you know, partnerships

03:32and collaborations are going to suffer, aren't they?

03:34But, you know, I think what you would say is that Son led the line last year without

03:38Harry Kane and his numbers were very, very good.

03:40He was excellent last season and almost still looked like the Son of old.

03:44So I wouldn't say that's particularly the reason.

03:47I think it is more, you know, he's unfortunately been left with a struggling side.

03:52I wonder as well, you know, and this is just pure sort of speculation and opinion, whether

03:56his contract issues weighed him down a little bit this season.

04:00Lots of talk that he was going to get a big new contract, where I suppose they've just

04:03extended the option for another 12 months.

04:06And I wonder behind the scenes whether that's had an impact on him.

04:08Perhaps his body language hasn't looked brilliant.

04:11I mean, obviously, we've been losing.

04:12Everybody's confidence is low and, you know, we're very, very flat as a team up until recently.

04:16So, you know, that might be just speculation, but it could be another factor.

04:21You know, you just don't know what's going on behind the scenes.

04:22But I don't think he's, I'm sure he is missing his mate Harry Kane.

04:27But in terms of why they are bearing on his performance, I think it's more the factors

04:32that I've mentioned, to be honest.

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