‘Captain’ Son Heung-min (Tottenham) has a different kind of class.
Son Heung-min pulled Tottenham out of the mire, scoring a goal and providing two assists in the team’s 4-1 win over Newcastle United in the 16th round of the 2023-2024 English Premier League (EPL) at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on Nov. 11 (ET).
Tottenham opened the season unbeaten in 10 games (W8 D2 L2). However, in their last five games, they have drawn one and lost four.
We needed an upset. Son Heung-min broke the winless streak. Manager Enze Postecoglou was out of options. Heung-Min Son is Tottenham’s best solution, but the side has lacked attacking creativity in recent games.
The only way out was to move him back to left wing-forward. In the center of the park, he’s joined by the Frenchman.
The mercenary move was a perfect fit. Son teased Kieran Trippier, a close friend from his Tottenham days. He beat Trippier in the 30th minute to set up Destiny Udoh for his Tottenham debut.
It was a start. The 38th-minute goal by Heung-min Son was also the result of cooking Trippier. Spurs took a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Son moved back up top when Heung-min was subbed off in the 28th minute, and he converted his own penalty in the 40th minute.
With 10 goals and four assists, Son has now scored double-digit goals in the EPL for eight consecutive seasons. Since arriving at Tottenham in the summer of 2015, he has scored double-digit goals in all but his first season.
Wayne Rooney (11 seasons), Frank Lampard (10 seasons), Sergio Aguero, and Harry Kane (9+ seasons). It’s the seventh-longest streak in EPL history, behind Thierry Henry and Sadio Mane (8+ seasons).
The British press has been full of praise. Coach Postecoglou called Son “the key.
“Son Heung-min set the tone early in the game, he was really positive every time he had the ball, that’s the leadership we needed, and the rest of the players picked the fruits of that,” he said after the Newcastle game, adding, “We were a lot more threatening in the final third than we were before. I think we got the goals we deserved, and we could have scored at least a couple more, so I’m really happy with that,” he smiled.
Postecoglou added: “If you look at the last couple of weeks, we have not been creating chances on the flanks. Son Heung-min is still our best creator. But I thought moving him back to the left would give him more ways to score goals.” “As I said before, Heung-min set the tone early on and the rest of the team was happy with him,” he emphasized.