Son Heung-min @ Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 2021-2022 [R]

Discussion in 'Korean Players Abroad' started by Rabbi Keane, Jul 23, 2021.

  1. Rabbi Keane

    Rabbi Keane Member

    Aug 13, 2003
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
  2. LeeSeungWoo

    LeeSeungWoo Member+

    Jun 3, 2016
  3. Bom23

    Bom23 Member

    Jun 19, 2014
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea Republic
    Son is such a clown. He should be a Galatico
     
  4. jizzle

    jizzle Member

    FC Seoul
    South Korea
    Feb 10, 2007
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea Republic
    Yeah, I would have liked to seen Son at Real Madrid or Bayern Munich as well and get some silverware. Since those two clubs are rumored to having wanted him.

    After hearing what LJS said about signing for Mainz, I think one of the reasons why Son remained at Tottenham may be similar. He hasn't explicitly stated it or anything but just my guess. Not all the reasons of course, but a key one. Especially considering some of his sunbaes (Ki and PJS).

    LJS said one big reason(apart from the head coach actively pursuing him) for Mainz in an interview is its location. It's 30 minutes from Frankfurt and close to Frankfurt Airport. So going back to Korea for national teams games is easier than Kiel where had to drive 2 hours to Hamburg, fly a connecting flight to either Frankfurt, Dubai or Doha and then transfer to an Incheon flight which took 30 hours all up.

    London has alot of direct flights to Korea. And the only London club that may be ahead of Tottenham is Chelsea. I wouldn't say Arsenal is and no way Son would go to Arsenal anyway as a Tottenham player. The two other places in Europe with the load of flights to Incheon similar to London is Paris and Frankfurt. The Frankfurt Area teams are mediocre for Son's level. PSG is the Paris club obviously. Although I think Munich and Madrid did have some flights to Korea in pre-pandemic times albeit not as frequent.

    I mean both Ki Sung Yong and Park Ji Sung all retired early from the NT due to the stress on their bodies. One key reason was the long travel between Europe and Korea for NT duties. Certainly, Swansea or Manchester aren't easy locations in getting to Korea.
     
  5. krnxsnoopy

    krnxsnoopy Member

    Jun 11, 2013
    It's only a layover. I really doubt that was the main reason or one of the main reasons. Besides top tier professional clubs AND professional footballers can afford private chartered flights (if need be).

    International breaks are a handful times a year. I doubt a one or two hour layover was heavily on the mind of Son when making this decision. Either way flying to Korea will be 10+ hours regardless so it's not like staying at London cuts his trip by half or anything. Also unlike us common folks, Son flies first class (at a minimum, it not chartered), and a 10+ flight in first class is not the same as 10+ in economy.

    I think Son stayed Tottenham because he's happy and comfortable there. Simple as that. Nothing to do with direct flight vs non-direct flights.

    People making 10-20M a year live by different rules and live in a different world than most of us. They'll fly from one continent to the next with ease and without second thought, like we take uber around our local cities.
     
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  6. LeeSeungWoo

    LeeSeungWoo Member+

    Jun 3, 2016
    And I bet SHM is not confident that he will be as successful/competitive in top teams. He's getting old. He prob also wants to be remembered as a legend by winning something + loves the club.
     
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  7. mk27

    mk27 Member

    Feb 24, 2008
    He probably wanted to stay in the premier league and none of the other bigger premier league teams could afford him or teams like chelsea have no chance of recruiting a star player from a rival london team.

    hes done well, hes still a success story for korean football. Its a shame he wont win any big trophies.

    its been a pleasure following his career especially after park ji sung retired.

    im hoping lee kang in can fill that gap for us now and hopefully he moves to the premier league
     
  8. sogyeokdong

    sogyeokdong Member

    Tottenham Hotspur
    Feb 3, 2015
    Club:
    Bayer 04 Leverkusen
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea Republic
    He'll go down as an absolute legend if he just wins a trophy--whether EL, CL, or the Prem. The team is finally undergoing long, long overdue changes in the roster--hopefully new blood, a real CB/midfield + Nuno's philosophy can change this team for the better. This all hinges upon Kane staying with the club as well, lol
     
  9. Gayageum

    Gayageum Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 22, 2013
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea Republic
    Pros:
    • Has 280 total appearances and 107 goals with Spurs. He'll be adding to that tally and further cement his position to become one of Spurs top legends
    • He's likely on 200k pounds per week. Nice deserved raise -- hopefully he has some bonuses and clauses baked-in in his favor
    • Son will stay in a familiar environment where he's revered, loved, venerated, and treated well by his teammates and staffs. No need to learn a new language or assimilate to a different culture
    • Won tons of personal accolades at Spurs
    • Logistical advantages of being in London (I don't think this was one of the main factors driving Son's decision, but good point made by @jizzle nonetheless)

    Cons:
    • Likely won't win any major hardware
    • UCL qualifications will become tougher and tougher
    • Levy will continue to undermine the manager's vision because he's aggressively pragmatic, which will result in the Spurs having little-to-no continuity (then rinse and repeat)
    Happy for him. All players dream of winning silverware, but I'm sure he made a calculated decision to stay. I could see why he signed an extension, but I hope he wins at least one major silverware before he retires.
     
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  10. Bom23

    Bom23 Member

    Jun 19, 2014
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea Republic
    glad for son's money and that he will go down as a spurs legend. he'll have a good chance of becoming captain at some point which would be historic.

    However

    if kane leaves, spurs will suffer tremendously and i see son struggling as well. kane with his passing and movement is probably one of the best strikers a wing forward like son could play with. if they put a dude up there with less quality or try to make son the main forward it's going to be uncomfortable viewing methinks.

    ronaldo did it in 3 leagues - england, spain, and italy. if son is truly sonaldo then he should follow suit. son in a real madrid jersey has made too much sense but it seems it will never happen. he deserves to be a more decorated player too and this is not going to happen with the spurs.

    son is going to have immense pressure on him if kane leaves. son has a somewhat frustrating game and i could see spurs fans turning on him if he starts getting exposed more, or isn't able to score in finals, etc. he already has enough pressure trying to achieve anything with korea. i'd prefer him to just be a guy at real madrid for his mental's sake.

    so, looks like the best we can realistically hope for are individual milestones like son managing 20 league goals. Maybe spurs can win a fa cup or europa league or something.
     
  11. nmssis

    nmssis Member+

    May 21, 2011
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC

    It was temporary stint but when Kane was out for extended time, Son did rather well. But the concern of Kane-less squad is real and needs to be addressed
     
  12. sogyeokdong

    sogyeokdong Member

    Tottenham Hotspur
    Feb 3, 2015
    Club:
    Bayer 04 Leverkusen
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea Republic
    Highly doubt Kane leaves especially with the Grealish deal being much more advanced. Harder for Villa to turn down 100m and Kane still has 3 years left iirc.

    Part of me wants him to leave if he doesn't have his heart set out on playing, 150-160m can go a long, long way if Paratici plays his cards right. I also do think there would be a huge loss in form in the short-term but I wonder if Kane leaving would light a huge fire under some players, SHM included.
     
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  13. Steven511

    Steven511 Member

    Jeonbuk FC
    South Korea
    Apr 1, 2017
    Better to stay in the PL and be a club legend. Only RM, BAR, MU, MC, CHL would be an obvious step up. BM, JUV, PSG are too but nobody really watches their leagues outside of their games in the CL and I think the Son brand has benefited from being a big fish in the PL.
     
  14. augietx

    augietx Member

    Feb 17, 2005
    TexAS
    As good as Kane is and valuable to Tottenham, I don’t wish that he comes back to this team.

    Harking back to November when Son couldn’t help but score at every sneeze, I just had this bizarre sensation the team just wished Son wouldn’t score anymore so as to not upset Harry. And at times it looked like Harry wasn’t going to have this, and so the production fell as well as the top spot in the table.

    There was just no good reason I could see to explain why Son’s production just fell out of nowhere.
     
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  15. datschge

    datschge Member+

    Feb 9, 2014
    Germany
    Looks like Kane failed to appear for tests as scheduled at the training ground today so this appears to be heading into a standoff with Kane wanting to force a transfer. Honestly can't see him staying any longer with this happening.
     
  16. sogyeokdong

    sogyeokdong Member

    Tottenham Hotspur
    Feb 3, 2015
    Club:
    Bayer 04 Leverkusen
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea Republic
    Son was literally playing 90 every game and had to be put on in weaker competition--the man was gassed + Mourinho made his forwards track back like crazy. Midfield was absolutely dreadful besides PEH, it was literally getting overrun by relegation sides. No incisive passes and controlled play, didn't help that Lo Celso was injured for months. Still no Eriksen replacement.

    Biggest problem was lack of midfield presence + unreliable CBs at the back. Every other top PL team has a solid midfield besides us (Winks/Sissoko do not cut it)

    Not to mention most of Son's goals were from Kane assists, no? I really don't think Kane was upset, he got both golden boot and PL leader in assists.

    On a side note, absolutely crazy that City says that Grealish's 100m doesn't affect their finances for Kane. Oil money ruined the league.
     
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  17. augietx

    augietx Member

    Feb 17, 2005
    TexAS
    I don't think fatigue is a good explanation. That would mean he should have been dead with zero goals or assists by the end of the season; Mourinho never stopped Son's minutes.

    Kane wouldn't have gotten his golden boot with assists only, which is what he was doing in November, and that's sort of the point. He was eyeing that award, which by this time was looking like Son would be the one to get it, at the rate he was scoring. Coincidentally, Kane's attempts at assisting Son dropped off around that time too. Remember the two were on the way to some record about mutual assists and so forth? They were on pace to beat it some mid way through the season which was so remarkable to many pundits. It'd be interesting if someone explored why that record was never annihilated between these two.

    And I don't think defensive frailties explain the lack of forward production as well. The team may lose more games, but shouldn't prevent them from scoring to try to win.

    And LoCelso's injury, barring everything else stayed the same, probably doesn't affect Son's productions either.

    In my estimation, it'd be good for Kane to follow Lamella's way and let the team play team ball, not Kane ball.
     
  18. sogyeokdong

    sogyeokdong Member

    Tottenham Hotspur
    Feb 3, 2015
    Club:
    Bayer 04 Leverkusen
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea Republic
    I think the argument would hold a lot more water if they were just trying to force feed Kane to give him goals or something. He was receiving no service/touches in a lot of games too--and I watched nearly every game of the season. Don't know where fatigue=no goals at all comes from, but after multiple results of taking Son out early (provides offensive threat/stretches field/has even developed game to be a pest defensively) only for the team to lose, it's pretty clear he was fatigued. 3.1k minutes in the PL alone.

    Defensive liability in the back absolutely affects offensive production. If your forwards and midfield are playing back and are forced to be playing defensively it gives the opponents much more space/time to set up their defense and restrict counters.

    Also, Son was crazy outperforming his xG even for his own standards (iirc he is one of the highest in the PL since 15-16) so it makes sense that his production/finishing rate wasn't going to be sustainable.
     
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  19. nmssis

    nmssis Member+

    May 21, 2011
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Romero is in. :thumbsup:

    but he needs another capable partner(s) at least 2 more, i gather, if not then...
     
  20. mk27

    mk27 Member

    Feb 24, 2008
    Son scored the winner against Arsenal in Spurs last pre-season game. He played alright.
     
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  21. nmssis

    nmssis Member+

    May 21, 2011
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
  22. Kenny South

    Kenny South Member

    Tottenham Hotspur
    South Korea
    May 25, 2019
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  23. Gayageum

    Gayageum Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 22, 2013
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea Republic
    That flick by Lucas to start the counter was amazing.

    Then once Son slowed it down to cut into his favorite spot, you just knew he was going to score.
     
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  24. nmssis

    nmssis Member+

    May 21, 2011
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Ake does not do well vs Sonny
     
  25. Bom23

    Bom23 Member

    Jun 19, 2014
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea Republic
    Love to see it. If Kane goes, wonder if Son will keep starting up front. Could be a great thing to get those reps
     

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