The Premier League have got a lot of superstar players but not many of them seem to quite as consistent and as enjoyable to watch as Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min.

The South Korean has been at Spurs for five years now and he seems to get better and better as each season passes.

Son has started this campaign with great aplomb and has scored six goals in his club’s first four league games. You can add two assists and a goal in his two Europa League outings too.

Today he was in sensational form against Manchester United, helping his side to a 6-1 win at Old Trafford (Match Report BBC Sport) with two strikes and another assist.

Heung-min is an extremely intelligent and diligent footballer and, for me, he must be the first name on Jose Mourinho’s team-sheet.

Son possesses great acceleration and it seems to deceive defenders as they don’t get close enough to him when in a foot race. The player has clearly worked on his fitness and his stature since his arrival from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015. He doesn’t mind going in for challenges, covers so much ground, keeps on running and he isn’t easy to brush off the ball (opponents have certainly tried!).

Although the attacker always plays with a smile on his face, he doesn’t mind doing a few of the dirty things: whether that’s pressing, making challenges or chasing back.

His link-up play with star striker Harry Kane is also on another level.

They seem to have a telepathic partnership as both players seem to instinctively know where the other is. This was again evident as Spurs humbled Man United. Kane’s quick thinking saw the England captain slip a quick free-kick into the path of Son who raced clear of Eric Bailly and then nonchalantly lift the ball beyond an oncoming David de Gea and into the net.

Heung-min would return the favour with a nice pass into Kane’s path and the hitman duly stuck away that chance.

Harry deserves a lot of praise for helping Spurs get more out of the superb Son. When Kane drops deep, it gives his fellow attacker a good amount of space to run into. The English striker is also great at picking out his teammate with nice through balls.

Even when Kane suffers from his annual injury lay-off, Heung-min still manages to come into his own and lead the line and take on the goalscoring responsibilities.

As well as Son Heung-min’s eye for a goal and his workrate, another standout trait is his willingness to help teammates find the net. He may have only just picked up his first Premier League assist this term today but the Korean managed a whopping ten top flight assists last term. That’s because the classy attacker has the ability to sense where everyone is and what’s best for his team.

Son is also fabulous in transition and that is all down to his intelligence, pace and his ability to remain calm in high pressured situations.

He is also great at keeping the ball, he averages above 85% in his passing success rate during league outings since joining the club (Stats from Whoscored).

The twenty-eight year old is also the keeper of his own destiny, his hard-work and intelligence garner chances for himself. Look at he difference between Son and Dele Alli, both were superstars under Mauricio Pochettino and with Christian Eriksen pulling the strings behind them. Since Pochettino and Eriksen have left Spurs, Alli has turned into a shell whereas Son is simply still at his consistent best!

If you want to know just how good Son Heung-min is, then here’s what Liverpool’s world class centre-back Virgil van Dijk said about the Korean international when discussing why he’d select him in his five-a-side team:

“He’s quick, he’s strong, he goes out there to make life hell on the pitch for a defender.

“And his finishing – right foot, left foot – is just outstanding so I think I would pick him.”

Via Spurs-web.com

For a top quality defender like Van Dijk to say that about him, you have to agree with my assessment that Son Heung-min is one of the Premier League’s best performing stars right now and it’s been that way for while now.

You can definitely see why Tottenham Hotspur fans must be a bit optimistic about the season ahead. Jose Mourinho must be rubbing his hands together at the prospect of seeing Son soon linking up with not just Kane but with Gareth Bale in the Spurs final third!

Here’s hoping the Korean nice guy gets a chance to win at least one medal in a Lilywhites shirt before too long.

Posted on October 4th, 2020 by scott
Filed under: Article