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Son Heung-Min

Said last season he's on the decline. He can't beat a man with the ball at his feet, he doesn't have that explosive pace anymore, what worries me is he's captain so doubt he would get dropped....
And yet last season he was our highest goal scorer.
 
My guess is that ever since season 2021/22, when Son won the Golden Boot with 23 goals and no penalties compared with Kane's 17 (which included several), he has been much more targeted by coaches when preparing against Spurs.

They doubtless recognise not only that he is now our main goal threat, but that in particular he is at his most lethal whenever he is allowed too much space and time on the ball. You might argue that this applies to most strikers but it seems especiall true of Son. Coaches will know that with Son more than most it is especially critical to prevent him from receiving the ball in space in the first place and the importance of surrounding him before he has the chance to get away. Succeed in doing that and chances are you can completely nullify him.

It doesn't help that Son actually believes he can dribble THROUGH a ruck of players. For me this is by far his biggest weakness. He is way too easily robbed in these situations. He urgently needs to understand the importance of laying it off every time rather than taking too many defenders on at once.
 
Well, that's pretty much what everyone has been saying. Problem is we don't get him the ball in those positions.
Question for me is what do we do when we can't feed him those balls as often...

Eary days, but seems to me that we're getting more overlaps, a mix of that and underlapping runs from Udogie. And perhaps pushing Maddison further left more often. That all helps Son in those situations he otherwise wouldn't be as good in.

Issue with that can be that we're then offering less of a threat in other areas. Kulusevski as an 8 in some games helps with that imo. Also having Odobert on the right could be really good because unlike our other wingers he can actually thrive even if a bit isolated.

A better balanced front three could lead to Son being a better profile fit for this system imo.
 
So, first game LW, zero product. Second game CF, two goals. Both against a low block. Who knew.
The claim he can't play CF and against a low block was greatly exaggerated. Honestly at this point I do think CF suits him better but I'm happy enough trying things out with Solanke and seeing what works best.
 
The claim he can't play CF and against a low block was greatly exaggerated. Honestly at this point I do think CF suits him better but I'm happy enough trying things out with Solanke and seeing what works best.
I'm not suggesting he replaces Solanke, just what his better position is for us with this system.
 
Not knocking his goals but first was a mistake by the keeper (great reaction and speed from Son to force the mistake tbf) and second was a counter in the type of situation you'd expect him to do well in. So with regards to his suitability to playing CF in this type of setup and against a low block his goals yesterday don't really say anything.
 
Not knocking his goals but first was a mistake by the keeper (great reaction and speed from Son to force the mistake tbf) and second was a counter in the type of situation you'd expect him to do well in. So with regards to his suitability to playing CF in this type of setup and against a low block his goals yesterday don't really say anything.
But him not being a liability at LW does.
 
So, first game LW, zero product. Second game CF, two goals. Both against a low block. Who knew.

Well
We all know
Neither goal came against a low block
His second goal came with him playing LW
And his first wasn’t him playing Cf… it was him running like machine and doing some great work to make the keeper make the mistake

Son as CF is awful against defensive sides. It’s statically proven but regularly ignored (await the argument now)

He did some great work yesterday by the way, and I’ve said that repeatedly. The beta bit for me was his hold up when he won the free kick on the edge of the area

What I will add is my bigger worry is Richy as CF. He needs games to get sharp and I don’t see him getting them
 
You've picked your camp, you stick to it. Ange seems happy with him at CF, maybe he's insane too.
Have you read what I posted?
I literally said do sane people think he is a liability at LW? You understand what that means?
But what I will say is if we end up with son at CF for a simailr number of games to last year we will end up lower on the table … and Ange will be sacked
 
Have you read what I posted?
I literally said do sane people think he is a liability at LW? You understand what that means?
But what I will say is if we end up with son at CF for a simailr number of games to last year we will end up lower on the table … and Ange will be sacked
He was a liability against Leicester yes. You do understand that positions are fluid when attacking, but more disciplined when defending?
 
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