View: Tottenham star Son Heung-min fails to deliver on international duty
It is that time of year when the Premier League takes a break, and its countless stars jet around the world to compete for their respective nations, with Tottenham having plenty of representatives themselves.
Often, the international break is considered a rather dull time in the football calendar where supporters are just hopeful that their key players will return unharmed, with relatively little interest in how their results go while with their country.
However, some strong individual performances can never hurt, as it provides players with plenty of confidence and momentum upon their return to their respective clubs. One friendly in particular, played out on Thursday 7 September, featured a host of Tottenham stars.
Wales and South Korea played out a goalless draw in Cardiff and four players from Spurs started the contest. Those were captain Son Heung-min, Ben Davies, Brennan Johnson and defender Joe Rodon, who is on loan with Leeds United.
Going into the match, Son was in fine form. The 31-year-old had been given the nod ahead of Richarlison to start through the middle against Burnley on Saturday 2 September and took his chance excellently, scoring a hattrick in a 5-2 victory at Turf Moor.
Despite heading to Wales in goal-scoring form, the forward, who captains his nation as well as club, couldn’t replicate that same form. Playing up front once again, Son was unable to get on the scoresheet and add to his 37 goals for his country.
He managed three shots throughout the 90 minutes he was on the pitch, with just one of them finding the target, and was only able to complete one of his three attempted dribbles (Sofascore).
In addition to this, while he did complete 90 per cent of his passes, with one of those passes being key, he didn’t provide any accurate crosses and won only three of the 11 ground duels that he attempted. He also gave the ball away 10 times and was caught offside twice, as well as being dribbled past on two separate occasions.
Overall, it was a performance to forget, and Ange Postecoglou will be frustrated that Son couldn’t continue to build up his confidence with another positive display. However, it is worth noting that he was playing in a team with less quality, and there is no reason why he can’t return to Hotspur Way in the same form he left Turf Moor in.
In other Tottenham news, the club’s summer net spend demonstrates that not enough progress was made.