Tottenham: Gabby Agbonlahor baffled by what Ange Postecoglou did to Son Heung-min v Newcastle
Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League suffered a major blow after Spurs were smashed by Newcastle at St James’ Park.
A brace from Alexander Isak partnered with goals from Anthony Gordon and Fabian Schar handed Eddie Howe’s Magpies a massive 4-0 win on Saturday (13 April) to increase the pressure on Postecoglou in North London.
While the performance within itself has been heavily criticised by supporters and pundits alike, Gabby Agbonlahor was left baffled by the Spurs boss’ decision to substitute captain Son Heung-min so early in the second half.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Saturday (13 April) he said: “Why is he bringing Son off after 58 minutes? Son will get upset by that, he’s the sort of player who won’t be happy.”
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Son was not at his best and the South Korean international really struggled to get involved in proceedings, only having 28 touches of the ball in his 58 minutes of action at St James’ Park, according to Fotmob.
But the 31-year-old gave Tottenham a different dimension in attack, completing 84 per cent of his 19 attempted passes, which saw him create two goal-scoring chances for his teammates before he was substituted.
The Spurs captain had three touches of the ball in the opposition penalty area and even managed to complete 100 per cent of his attempted long passes, so his display in the northeast was by no means a disaster.
Out of possession, Son led the press well as he so often does, entering six ground duels and coming away with the ball in 67 per cent of them. On top of that, he managed to win four free-kicks as he drew in several fouls to break up play.
While the South Korean international didn’t have an attempt on goal in the match, he has already scored 15 goals this season and laid on a further nine assists in just 29 matches. That is a goal involvement every 100 minutes.
When compared to other forwards in the Premier League, the 31-year-old places in the 82nd percentile for non-penalty goals per 90 minutes and the 95th for assists per game, according to Fbref.
What makes that stat more impressive is the fact Son sits in the 35th percentile for non-penalty xG per game. He is one of the best finishers in the division and is more than capable of finding a goal or an assits out of absolutely nothing.
On average, the Tottenham captain overperforms his xG by 0.22 a game. While that doesn’t sound like a lot, over the course of a 38-match season that would see him score 8 more goals than he should have done.
Ange Postecoglou was wrong to substitute Son Heung-min v Newcastle United
While the damage was already done against Newcastle, it seems ridiculous that Postecoglou didn’t keep Son on the field as he was the only player likely to help Spurs find a way back into the game.
The likes of Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner have already been criticised for their finishing this season. They cannot be relied upon to find the back of the net and it seems bizarre they played the full 90 minutes while Son was hooked.
Hopefully, Postecoglou was just saving him for the North London derby, otherwise, this decision makes absolutely no sense.
In other Tottenham news, Troy Parrott is finished at Spurs and Daniel Levy will now be ready to accept transfer offers from the Bundesliga
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