Son Heung-min shows where Ange Postecoglou went wrong with display in Tottenham win v Newcastle United
Son Heung-min showed Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou exactly where he went wrong in recent weeks with his masterful display against Newcastle United.
The South Korea international managed to recover from a knock sustained in the loss to West Ham three days earlier to catch the eye for Spurs in their 4-1 victory against Newcastle.
Son assisted Tottenham’s first two goals – both inside the opening 38 minutes – as Destiny Udogie and Richarlison took full advantage of his work, before converting a late penalty.
Those two assists both came in very similar circumstances, so much so that pundit Pat Nevin described the copy-cat nature of Richarlison’s strike as “scary”.
“The similarities to the first goal are scary. We know why Son is playing on the left wing,” former Chelsea winger Nevin said on BBC Radio 5 Live [10 December, 17:07pm].
Son was shifted back out to the left-hand side against Newcastle, with Richarlison earning a recall to the side as a centre-forward and himself starring with two goals.
The 31-year-old played four key passes in the dominant display against Newcastle [WhoScored] – nobody played more – and registered 42 touches of the ball.
By comparison, he only registered two key passes when used more centrally against West Ham, while he touched the ball 51 times.
That goes to show that, while Son was more involved against the Hammers – likely due to Spurs chasing a goal – he had far more of an impact against Newcastle.
Son also attempted a game-high five dribbles against the Magpies [Sofascore], completing three of those – all the more impressive when you consider he was in direct competition with Kieran Trippier.
Postecoglou is now surely aware that using Son out on the left is the only call that makes sense, with Richarlison looking good value to lead the line after his two-goal showing.
As pointed out by Statman Dave on Twitter [10 December], this was the first time Son had registered two assists in a single game since February 2022 against Manchester City.
If Son can recapture the form that eluded him last month, then that really will be a “scary” development for Tottenham’s upcoming opponents.
In other Tottenham news, Daniel Levy must now surely accept a £10m financial hit after news that emerged this week.