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Son Heung-Min
- Thread starter Denmark Spur
- Start date
Whiffler
Jermaine Jenas
Alex Pritchard, who would likely have been ahead of Dele Alli at the start of the season.
Cochise
Steve Carr
I like what I've seen of Pritchard, he's not shy in going for goal, but he's untried at this level. My preference would be one more signing for that area and then let him and Onomah fight it out for the other roles.
alekaras
The ITK of IDK
Alli was also untried at this level. And given how Pritch tore up the Championship last season, had a full pre-season and has been training with the squad and understands Poch's system, I would say he is more prepared than anyone we could bring in. Unless that "anyone" is a proven PL player, and I just don't see such a transfer happening.
Gutter Boy
Tim Sherwood
I like Pritchard, but I wonder if he's a bit un-energetic for Poch
Cochise
Steve Carr
I was thinking "what about Alli?" when I wrote it, but in all honesty we have lucked out with him and we can't rely on it happening all too often with the youngsters. I'd love to be proven wrong, but with the calibre of opposition we will face next season on top of the domestic competitions, I think we need another Prem ready player (like you say).
My worry with Pritchard is injuries (similar with Mason, whenever they are almost there ... injuries hurt their career)
SUIYHA
Scott Parker
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/05/1...-for-tottenham-v-Saudi Sportswashing Machine/
Hard to agree with anything here. He was fudging garbage yesterday. I know everyone was, but it's telling that he was one of the players Poch chose to substitute at half-time.
He's certainly had very very good games for us since joining - think Emirates Marketing Project and West Ham at home, and Leicester away in the cup. But, has he done enough to justify his £22m price tag, and more importantly, to justify not signing a replacement in the summer?
Has to be said that Lamela was much much worse than Son in his first season and then became a decent player for us. But...I can't help but remember what I read on the Leverkusen forums the day we signed him, where the common consensus after his second season there seemed to be that he was a talented but frustrating player, who's decision making often let him down and it also became difficult to decide upon exactly where to play him in the XI as he never really made the left or right wing his own, nor the AM role, nor up front.
He's still only 23 and has plenty of time to improve, but will he?
Hard to agree with anything here. He was fudging garbage yesterday. I know everyone was, but it's telling that he was one of the players Poch chose to substitute at half-time.
He's certainly had very very good games for us since joining - think Emirates Marketing Project and West Ham at home, and Leicester away in the cup. But, has he done enough to justify his £22m price tag, and more importantly, to justify not signing a replacement in the summer?
Has to be said that Lamela was much much worse than Son in his first season and then became a decent player for us. But...I can't help but remember what I read on the Leverkusen forums the day we signed him, where the common consensus after his second season there seemed to be that he was a talented but frustrating player, who's decision making often let him down and it also became difficult to decide upon exactly where to play him in the XI as he never really made the left or right wing his own, nor the AM role, nor up front.
He's still only 23 and has plenty of time to improve, but will he?
DubaiSpur
Ian Walker
He will. He was one of the only players to conduct play and ceaselessly offer options in the first half against Soton (before everyone gave up entirely) and got a deserved goal out of it. He was also our brightest spark (imo) against Chelsea in that first half, also ending up with a goal there.
No one will deny that he's had a very stop-start, and at times extremely frustrating season. And he was truly awful against Saudi Sportswashing Machine. But there's enough in his obvious qualities (quick, reasonably strong, quite skillful, extremely two-footed to the point where he doesn't seem to have a 'preferred' side) to make me think that we can unlock the potential in his head the way we did with Lamela. And I still believe that buying him was an amazing move that Levy deserves credit for making.
I just hope he wins a medal with South Korea at the coming Olympics; second place, third place, whatever, doesn't matter as long as he wins something. Else, we're going to be faced with the real risk of losing him to mandatory military service at some point (I think Ki Sung-Yeung's doing his military service right now, and he actually won a medal with S.Korea at the last Olympics and was thus mostly exempted from the requirement), possibly for the full two-year period.
No one will deny that he's had a very stop-start, and at times extremely frustrating season. And he was truly awful against Saudi Sportswashing Machine. But there's enough in his obvious qualities (quick, reasonably strong, quite skillful, extremely two-footed to the point where he doesn't seem to have a 'preferred' side) to make me think that we can unlock the potential in his head the way we did with Lamela. And I still believe that buying him was an amazing move that Levy deserves credit for making.
I just hope he wins a medal with South Korea at the coming Olympics; second place, third place, whatever, doesn't matter as long as he wins something. Else, we're going to be faced with the real risk of losing him to mandatory military service at some point (I think Ki Sung-Yeung's doing his military service right now, and he actually won a medal with S.Korea at the last Olympics and was thus mostly exempted from the requirement), possibly for the full two-year period.
glasgowspur
Luka Modric
DL will sell him back to South Korea to do his service for a world record fee!
DubaiSpur
Ian Walker
Footballers actually have the option of playing for the army team for a couple of seasons to fulfill their service requirements, iirc. Levy, do you hear me? You can sell Son to the military club.
I'd wager we got some assurances from the South Korean FA (who ,in turn, are connected with the government) that he wouldn't called up for at least 3-4 years after joining us, which gives him time to compete in two Olympics and World Cup tournaments to try and get that 3rd place medal that would earn him an exemption, like it did for Park Ji-Sung and Ki-Sung Yeung (even though they still had to symbolically serve a month or something like that).
But I don't think we got a bonafide exemption for him; military service is taken very seriously in South Korea, and celebrities who try to dodge it (as they often do) are usually vilified to a great degree. Park Chu-Young, who only tried to postpone his service, got all sorts of abuse.
alekaras
The ITK of IDK
Military service is also taken very seriously in Greece, but you can get a deferment if you're a professional athlete. You serve eventually, but when you're in your 30s. I know South Korea is unique, what with the nutjobs to the north, but still. Professional athletes have a small window to make a living and to take away a chunk of that is a bit unfair. Plus, even in their mid to late 30s, they'll still be fitter than 99% of the younger recruits.Footballers actually have the option of playing for the army team for a couple of seasons to fulfill their service requirements, iirc. Levy, do you hear me? You can sell Son to the military club.
I'd wager we got some assurances from the South Korean FA (who ,in turn, are connected with the government) that he wouldn't called up for at least 3-4 years after joining us, which gives him time to compete in two Olympics and World Cup tournaments to try and get that 3rd place medal that would earn him an exemption, like it did for Park Ji-Sung and Ki-Sung Yeung (even though they still had to symbolically serve a month or something like that).
But I don't think we got a bonafide exemption for him; military service is taken very seriously in South Korea, and celebrities who try to dodge it (as they often do) are usually vilified to a great degree. Park Chu-Young, who only tried to postpone his service, got all sorts of abuse.
DubaiSpur
Ian Walker
Well, I have my own views on the utility of compulsory military service, and they can be summed up by 'it depends' (although given that Seoul is literally within range of North Korean 170mm howitzers and MBRLs on the edge of the DMZ, I'd suggest South Korea needs it more than other nations do). But there's no doubting that these sorts of laws have not kept up with changing employment trends in a wide range of fields, professional sport included.
However, it's less risky to plan for the future while assuming that Son will have to serve his full term of military service than it is to hope that Korean lawmakers (who I presume are no more prompt or efficient than their global counterparts) get around to amending the relevant laws before he's called up.
Let's just hope he at least helps South Korea to third place at Rio, and earns his exemption that way, making this whole thing academic.
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DubaiSpur
Ian Walker
Spurmac1974
Reto Ziegler
Think he needs to judged after a full pre season(hopefully) under Poch. Still think there is a very good player in there.
Glenda's Legs
Paul Walsh
Agree the potential looks to be there. But a full pre-season is not going to happen if he does go to the Olympics. Wasn't that supposed to be the quid pro pro for him not playing for S Korea in the March internationals?
afsoc4life
Vedran Corluka
Had a good first season IMHO. Scored a few goals and in latter games looked physically stronger. Perhaps need some mental re-focusing for next season and the address to Lamela's gym.