Son Heung-min is back among South Korea’s goalscorers, scoring in World Cup qualifiers against Kuwait and Palestine to break the 50-goal barrier in international football and move within seven of his country’s record that Cha Bum-kun holds.
Son is safe in the land of legends when it comes to his achievements and Tottenham manager Ange Posteocglou will be delighted to see his captain score a couple of times before Saturday’s trip to Manchester City.
Spurs could use a boost after losing at home to Ipswich in their last game, a defeat that left them mired in mid-table and off the pace in the Premier League. They could also use their most reliable source of goals to find their rhythm again.
Son scored more for South Korea (10 in 15 appearances) than for Spurs (8 in 26) in 2024, with the theory that at the age of 32, he might have lost some steam.
He has scored in only two Tottenham games this season despite the team scoring freely. The most recent was the fourth of four against West Ham. Previously, there were two in another four-goal rout against Everton.
At the end of last season, he picked up late consolations in defeats against Arsenal and Liverpool. His last truly decisive goal came against Luton in March, a goal that put him beyond Cliff Jones in the club’s top five all-time goalscorers.
Tottenham could do with Son Heung-Min regaining his scoring touch at club level
The Spurs captain surpassed 50 goals for South Korea during the international break
Son has four goals for Spurs this season, but his last truly decisive goal came against Luton in March.
Brennan Johnson on the opposite flank has posed a major threat with seven in all competitions this season. Johnson’s pure straight-line pace and determination to get to the back post make him effective under Postecoglou, who likes his wingers to open inside channels for midfield runners or his full-backs.
One of Son’s great strengths has always been his ability to go either side of the full-back from his position on the left wing, but his tendency for years has been to roll infield and pepper the goal with shots with his right foot or accelerate towards the area. spaces created when Harry Kane fell deeply.
His best individual season came in 2021-22, honing his finishing in a team that became clinical on the counterattack when Antonio Conte replaced Nuno Espirito Santo. He won a Golden Boot with 23 goals and seven assists in the Premier League. Spurs finished fourth and qualified for the Champions League.
However, under Postecoglou, Son scores or assists every 109 minutes, a better rate than under any of his other coaches at the club.
However, Spurs are scoring more than under Conte or Jose Mourinho and since he left for Bayern Munich there has been no Kane who takes most and all of the penalties.
Goals flow from all areas in Postecoglou’s team and last season no one finished with more than Son’s 17. The most basic metrics deserve scrutiny. Even when it comes to pure speed, the Premier League speed gun recorded him at a top speed of 21.8mph this season, which is faster than five years ago when it was first introduced.
Son’s season has been cut short by a hamstring injury. He achieved it at the end of a Europa League tie against Qarabag in September and a setback forced him to miss most of October and prompted a warning from Postecoglou.
“We have to be sensible about it,” said the Spurs boss, admitting that injuries among the forwards had led him to play with Son more than he would have liked. “I don’t think it has much to do with his age because I haven’t seen it affect him.
Son’s season is interrupted by a hamstring injury suffered in the Europa League
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou admitted he would have to be careful about Son’s fitness
Despite turning 32, Son has gone faster than five years ago
“What’s more, I just don’t think that kind of workload in the modern game is sustainable. We’ve talked a lot about match overload and part of that responsibility falls on us to try to protect our players and certainly with Sonny we’re going to have to be aware of that.”
Upon his return, Son was replaced early in the second half against Aston Villa with the game at 1–1 and threw a tantrum on the bench after coming off, notable as he was so out of place. Spurs won 4-1 and, with his changes justified, Postecoglou calmly dismissed his captain’s reaction as just one of those things.
Like all players, Son wants to play. Beyond that, football is his life, such is the dedication to his career. His deep reserves of physical stamina come from the demanding training regimens of his youth, designed and supervised by his father. So does his discipline and unwavering concentration on football.
He is a true icon in South Korea, committed to taking them to a World Cup in two years in the US with his large Korean community.
Postecoglou understands what it means to his country and no one at Spurs expects him to give up international football, but the stress of long-distance travel will only increase the demands AngeBall’s relentless nature has on his 32-year-old body.
Once again muscle injuries accumulate at Tottenham. Wilson Odobert has undergone surgery for a hamstring problem. Micky van de Ven has missed the last three games and Richarlison is out, both hamstrings.
Meanwhile, Cristian Romero, who has been playing despite a toe injury, was forced to withdraw during Argentina’s World Cup qualifier in Paraguay last week and did not feature against Peru on Tuesday.
Tottenham plan to activate an option on Son’s contract but his long-term future is up for debate
Son and James Maddison struck up a connection last season, but the latter is now out of the team
Woven into the debate over Son and arguably as important as his advanced age, fitness or tactics, is the loss of Kane and the fading of James Maddison. Son and Maddison had instant chemistry at the start of last season on the team’s left side.
He helped soften Kane’s departure, but Maddison is not a guaranteed starter now, with Dejan Kulusevski thriving in a deeper role and Pape Matar Sarr proving important to midfield balance. The team is evolving the way teams do.
Then there is the matter of Son’s contract, which expires at the end of this season with a one-year clause that can be exercised unilaterally by the club.
Mail Sport understands it has not yet been activated, although Spurs intend to do so when the time is right. This will tie Son down until 2026, then at the end of this season we will be back in the uncertain territory of a Tottenham captain with just one year left on his contract.
Daniel Levy has had an aversion to stars leaving for free since Sol Campbell left for Arsenal in the year he took over as chairman. Kane was not granted his request to leave until his contract reached its final year without showing any indication of signing another.
Would Levy want Son, Asia’s most famous footballer and such a commercial asset, to walk free in 2026? Will you look to sell him this summer having protected his value by activating the clause? Or would you be willing to lavish a new contract on a player who will turn 34 at the end of this extra year?
With Wilson Odobert (left) and Mikey Moore (right), Tottenham have exciting potential at the club.
It’s easy to go wrong with a fitting final chapter for a legend, but Spurs need Son’s short-term goals
In Mikey Moore, 17, and Odobert, 19, there are already high-potential forwards in the building.
Spurs couldn’t wish for a more distinguished role model than Son in his later years, but would this have any appeal for him? He may not want to extend his time at the club by signing another one or two-year deal when there are likely to be attractive deals and new challenges on offer, possibly in the United States.
These questions will become more prominent in the coming weeks. It would be remiss of both parties not to consider their options. It’s easy to make a mistake when managing a final chapter suitable for legends.
In the short term, Postecoglou needs Son to score goals and win games for Tottenham again.