Tottenham forward Heung-min Son celebrates after scoring. (Getty Images)
Despite not making a single signing in the summer, Tottenham Hotspur have once again surpassed all expectations this season. Having finished in the top three in each of the previous three seasons, the Lilywhites have done exceptionally well on all fronts this term.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side find themselves 3rd in the Premier League standings, just 6 points behind leaders Liverpool. It hasn’t only been about their wonderful run in the league but they have also thrived against the likes of Barcelona and Inter Milan to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League and beat Arsenal to make it to the semifinals of the Carabao Cup.
And Spurs’ star quartet of Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Heung-min Son has been the driving force behind their success. It is very common to find Kane and Eriksen linked with some of the biggest clubs in the world but Son has been the underrated genius of Tottenham’s success in recent seasons.
Signed for £22million back in 2015 from Bayer Leverkusen, Son has established himself as one of the cornerstones of the club’s success in the last three seasons. The 26-year-old has racked up a whopping tally of 58 goals and 33 assists from 165 appearances for the Lilywhites across all competitions.
Going by the numbers, Heung-min Son has been one of the most consistent performers in the Premier League in recent times. He accumulated 14 goals and 6 assists in the 2016-17 season and followed it up with another successful 2017-18 campaign where he racked up 12 goals and 6 assists. The 26-year-old Korean has been equally impressive this term as well, scoring 8 goals and providing 5 assists in the Premier League so far.
When we talk about the best left-wingers in the Premier League, Eden Hazard, Leroy Sane and Sadio Mane are the names that come to our mind. Even someone like Felipe Anderson has made the headlines this season but Son, as usual, has been an unsung hero.
Honest, humble and wholehearted, Son might not be as talented as Hazard but he always wins hearts with his application, work ethics and contribution in the final third. One of his greatest assets is his ambidextrous nature as a footballer which allows the manager to use him on either side of the attack and also as an auxiliary striker in a two-man attack.
The Korean has reduced Kane’s goal-scoring burden to a large extent, providing Pochettino with the option of a second striker in the team. Son is not only about hard work, drive and determination. It is not that he runs around tirelessly without much result but he has got real quality on the ball to make things happen. Not only is he clinical with his finishing but he also has the vision and the presence of mind to create chances.
Son’s ability to link up effectively with his teammates makes him a perfect fit for Tottenham’s system. The Korean has linked up really well with the likes of Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane, playing clever one-twos and drawing the defenders out from their positions to open up the half spaces.
Blessed with good tactical awareness, the 26-year-old does not remain rooted to his position but he keeps on interchanging positions in the final third to keep the defenders guessing all the time. In fact, he is a very difficult player to mark, owing to his sharpness and agility on and off the ball.
To sum it up, Son has been at the centre of everything that Spurs have achieved this season. The impact he has had in the final third for Spurs is the just the same as Hazard, Sane and Mane have had for their respective teams. With the Asia Cup around the corner, Tottenham are really going to find it hard to cope without Son’s services for five to six games in January.
It is high time that Heung-min Son is given the credit that he deserves. Perhaps, the lack of silverware has prevented him from being labelled as one of the best in the Premier League. However, the Korean has shown that he is a player with massive potential who is only getting better day by day and he has all the attributes to propel Spurs to Premier League glory if he continues to deliver the goods with the same level of consistency.