Heung-Min Son (손흥민)

[bonaspur23]

This is spot on..... Heard the same thing every season along with "it's like playing with 10 men if he's not scoring" etc. etc.

I'm not saying play him indefinitely, but I have no concern in the longer term.

Ditto; I too would play him against City.

Because it’s true… his overall game is weak and he makes up for it with his threat in behind and deadly finishing.

If he’s not finishing, he hurts the team.

He’s 30 now and we can expect his pace not to remain what it is forever. He’s running less than he has in past seasons.

At some point, he is going to fall off. It might be happening now, it might not. Assuming he is going to rebound every time he has 7 poor games might lead to him playing 20 poor games before we make a switch.

He should start against city because we need the counter attack threat but if he doesn’t improve we need to start keeping him to 40-60 minutes a game and see if he can be an impact player in small doses.

 

[Airfixx]

Because it’s true…

Yes it's true, but that's not the point being made.

People appear oblivious to the fact we have been here before and he's gone on to shine.

 

[Bazali]

This 'play him into form' argument is such bollocks.

We were forced to do that previously as we had no alternatives but we now have Kulu and Richy, who have both been miles better than Son this season.

He needs to be dropped and he can find his form on the training ground.

And who knows it could be that coming on at 70 mins against tired legs gives him a better chance of scoring and he gains confidence that way.

He shouldn't start on Sat but we know he will. Lisbon away will be the first time he is rotated.

His contribution virtually means we’re playing against ten men as he’s an out and out striker and doesn’t track back or defend which is fine when he’s scoring or assisting but he’s not firing at all atm and the longer this goes on the more it will affect his confidence

Bench him and use as an impact striker as you say

 

[bonaspur23]

Yes it's true, but that's not the point being made.

People appear oblivious to the fact we have been here before and he's gone on to shine.

But there will also be a time when he does not go on to shine. Every single player experiences a decline at some point that they don’t recover from.

Most people aren’t saying completely ditch him. But lessen his role a bit and once he puts in better performances, we can throw him back in. Try to use him in positions where he succeeds… running in behind and far, far away from build up.

Look at Salah in the last several months. He looks an absolute shell of the player he was. Sure, he’ll rebound and turn in some good performances now and again but I don’t think he’ll ever hit his unstoppable level in the last 2 seasons. Players decline and the best run clubs can identify the decline at the right point and either move the player on for value or make adjustments to keep the player useful.

 

[Matt1882]

He went through a spell like this last season and, IIRC, his return to form was City away.
I distinctly recall expecting him to balls up a chance when through on goal then he deftly touched it off to Deki and had a quality game

 

[KaneDomBadBoy]

Because it’s true… his overall game is weak and he makes up for it with his threat in behind and deadly finishing.

What on god's earth are you talking about? Son's overall game is weak?

Whether you like it or not, over the last 4 full PL seasons, Son has been our POTY 3x, has the most non pen goals, assist, dribbles, key passes, shot creating actions, etc. etc. and has arguably been our best all around player, full stop.

Before Conte came in, he was much more of a dynamic wide player and creator from the wing. He took on defenders, beat players on the dribble and whipped in crosses - he wasn't this bona fide goal scorer he is now. Conte's converted him into a player that gets in behind and a goal scorer - that's his role now and the first year he jumped in to the role, he won the Golden Boot as a winger without scoring a fucking penalty.

He's hit a shocking rough patch, deserves to be dropped and you're right in that he may never be the same player because of age and whatnot, but to suggest that the overall game of our best player (over the last 4 seasons) is weak is nonsense. He has put the team on his back and carried us in so many fucking ways even when he wasn't scoring goals over the years.

 

[AlabamaSpur]

I'd bet my house that he starts Saturday. Maybe on a short leash, but he will start.

 

[TheSpurEst]

Was very good vs Fulham, fairly poor in most other games. For me the decision to make on Saturday should be between Son and Richarlison.. personally I'd go with Son because of his history vs and suitability for playing vs City. Be brave and early in substituting on Richarlison if need be, who can be a real wrecking ball and game changer from the bench. If it was any other game I'd be dropping Son, but his skillset is designed for this fixture. I think for Conte it'll be between Kulusevski and Richarlison.

I absolutely disagree...

"suitability for playing vs City" and "skillset designed for this fixture"- his main contribution yesterday was to dribble into defenders one or two levels below City defenders. We need someone who could help us to keep the ball and make City players life difficult.

So it makes way more sense to put in-form Richie to harrassment duty from the start and THEN if they are tired bring on Sonny who could run behind them.

 

[meaningless-friendly]

"has to click soon" - but for how long does other squad and team results have to suffer?

We are 7 games into the season and it has improved bit (Fulham game seemed better) but how long are you willing to take dump on other players whose form would justify playing time more?

I guess there is a limit to how much longer we can give him. But he was unlucky against Fulham, right? Played pretty well.

Flip side is, Conte keeps faith and Son tears it up against Man City. And then you have super Son, on form and running through walls for the manager who backed him.

 

[KaneDomBadBoy]

I guess there is a limit to how much longer we can give him.

Using last year as a comp, Kane had 1 goal in the first 14 Premier League games of the season. He didn't get his second goal until December 19th. That should give us an idea.

 

[GGTH]

Using last year as a comp, Kane had 1 goal in the first 14 Premier League games of the season. He didn't get his second goal until December 19th. That should give us an idea.

Playing Kane despite him clearly downing tools got Nuno sacked. I'm not sure this is what we should be going for.

Looks like there won't be any more PL matches in October anyway, so hopefully it'll give Son time to get out of his funk.

 

[DPN9]

Playing Kane despite him clearly downing tools got Nuno sacked. I'm not sure this is what we should be going for.

Looks like there won't be any more PL matches in October anyway, so hopefully it'll give Son time to get out of his funk.

He definitely needs to get some jazz back into his game.

 

[Airfixx]

He definitely needs to get some jazz back into his game.

I'm sure once things pop back into place, Sonny will show us all his true metal........

 

[KaneDomBadBoy]

Playing Kane despite him clearly downing tools got Nuno sacked. I'm not sure this is what we should be going for.

Looks like there won't be any more PL matches in October anyway, so hopefully it'll give Son time to get out of his funk.

I actually don't think he was downing tools. I think he wasn't physically fit from not having a pre season and being burnt out from Euro. He actually ripped apart teams in the ECL qualifiers for us and national team games against San Marino and Albania. He just didn't do well in the Premier League because of better competition while he was unfit.

And even after Conte joined, it took Kane 5 full games to get his first PL goal for Conte. Right now, Son hasn't scored in 6 PL games to give you some perspective.

But I do agree that Kane should have been dropped last season just as Son should be dropped right now. Others however were adamant that Kane should never be dropped even after months of shocking performances last season.

 

[RealCoolYid]

I'm sure once things pop back into place, Sonny will show us all his true metal........

Mettle

 

[Airfixx]

Mettle

 

[WookieD]

Mettle

Hmm… that pun didn’t pop with you, did it?

 

[bk_spur]

Id still start him v City, I just think it has to click soon and he has had some great performances against them. We need him up and running.

City will actually play ball vs us and he is excellent on the counter. I'd not be mad if he started. Kulu hasn't been bad at all though so it's hard to bench him again.

 

[Yiddy]

Game probably has a high chance of not going ahead right?

 

[TheSpurEst]

I guess there is a limit to how much longer we can give him. But he was unlucky against Fulham, right? Played pretty well.

Flip side is, Conte keeps faith and Son tears it up against Man City. And then you have super Son, on form and running through walls for the manager who backed him.

In Fulham game he was good, just unlucky.
But have to consider opposition as well...
Either it is Fulham at home or ManCity away...

Also, I would argue that Conte has backed him.
And at least 99% here do back him and believe he will come good again.
Question is - is this playing 2x90 minutes per week really helping him at this point.

He is honest and humble guy, from some point on he might feel bad about keeping more in-form players out of the starting XI... but that might be 100% my fantasy.