Tottenham star struggles in Asian Cup opener is
Tottenham star Son Heung-min struggles in Asian Cup opener
Tottenham captain Son Heung-min shows signs of fatigue as he struggles to make an impression for South Korea
Tottenham captain Son Heung-min looks desperate for a much-needed rest after his recent performance for South Korea demonstrated signs of a player struggling with fatigue.
Few players in world football can relate to the kind of pressure Son is under as captain of both his club and country.
Ange Postecoglou has relied heavily on the forward this season, starting him in all 20 Premier League matches the 31-year-old has been available for, meaning Son has already racked up 1,718 minutes of club football at the halfway point of the season.
Following Spurs’ 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday 14 January, the majority of Son’s teammates have a lengthy rest, not in action again until their fourth-round FA Cup home tie with Manchester City on Friday 26 January.
However, for the club’s top scorer this season, the football never stops as he now embarks on his national duties away from Hotspur Way, captaining South Korea at the 2024 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.
His nation made a winning start to the tournament, beating Bahrain 3-1 on Monday 15 January, but it was a victory in which Son played very little part.
While the former Bayer Leverkusen man usually leads the way for South Korea, it was his international teammates who stepped up in their opening Group E encounter, while Son struggled.
As per Sofascore, although he managed two shots on target and one off target, he wasn’t able to get himself on the scoresheet, and instead, the usually clinical marksman missed the one big chance that fell to him.
On the ball, he was sluggish, successful with just two of the five dribbles he attempted, and although he managed to play one key pass, he was only able to complete 79 per cent of his overall passes while he also lost possession 15 times.
Son has adapted well to Postecoglou’s intense play style in North London, which sees the Australian demand his forward players to press and chip in defensively.
Nonetheless, against Bahrain, Son struggled in this department as well, winning just five of his ten ground duels, losing his one aerial duel and managing to make just one tackle.
While it was by no means the best of starts for Son, most South Korean supporters won’t have too much cause for concern as their nation was still able to make a winning start, but for Postecoglou, there are some real worries.
This was the performance of a player who is perhaps run down after playing so much football this season, and that fatigue will only get worse as the Asian Cup progresses, with Son likely to play the majority of his country’s minutes.
This could see the forward return to England in need of a rest, which Postecoglou cannot afford to offer Son with the Premier League fixtures coming thick and fast in February.
Spurs have four league matches in the space of 20 days next month, and the club’s 58-year-old head coach will need his talisman fit and firing upon his return.
Son has been in fine form this season, scoring 12 league goals and providing five assists, and signed off for international duty in style during the club’s 3-1 home win against Bournemouth on New Year’s Eve.
As seen in the image above, the striker made a run in behind the Cherries’ back line, a run which midfielder Giovani Lo Celso spotted.
The Argentina international picked his captain’s clever run out, and Son went through on goal and finished well from a tight angle to double the Tottenham lead.
It was the kind of contribution which showed Spurs what they would be missing, and Postecoglou will be hoping to see more of that when his star man returns and will hope his performance against Bahrain was just a blip rather than the signs of a player running out of steam.