Spurs' coach commends Son for good performance

Spurs' coach commends Son for good performance. September. 20, 2016 07:20. by 정윤철기자 trigger@donga.com. “I am happy for him. His performance was fantastic. That’s why we waited for him.”

Mauricio Pochettino, coach of the Tottenham Hotspur, enthusiastically commended Son Heung-min for his performance after his team won 1-0 in a match against Sunderland FC in the English Premier League in London on Monday. Son, who started as the left-field striker to play full time on the day, failed to score a goal, but led his team’s offense through threatening crosses and passes.

Thierry Henry, who was a flagship striker for France, told Sky Sports, “Son Heung-min's man-of-the-match display against Sunderland proves he should now start for Tottenham Hotspur.” Whoscored.com, a European soccer statistics website, gave Son 8.3 points, the highest accorded to a Tottenham player. The score was higher than that for Harry Kane (8.1 points) who scored the finishing goal.

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Son, who had agonized for lack of chances to start in matches, began to earn trust from the coach, as he displayed stellar performance in two matches he started including the match against Stoke City FC (Sept. 11) in which he scored two goals. "After the Olympic Games his idea was to leave to go to Germany. But one thing is what the player wants, and the other thing is the club's decision," Coach Pochettino said at an interview with the Daily Mail. “He came to see me and said he needed my help, and I said: OK, always my door is open. In his mind, he would like to move but in the end he accepted the decision to stay and fight for his position."

In order for Son to consolidate his position as a starting member, the most important thing is to reduce fluctuation in the degree of his performance in matches. The 24-year-old winger started in matches against AS Monaco (France, one win and two losses) in the UEFA Champions League that happened on Thursday last week, but was replaced in the second half after failing to display good performance. “I worked hard. I was disappointed against Monaco but today our performance was good and we deserved the win,” Son said.

Meanwhile, Ki Sung-yueng of Swansea City FC is under fire for expressing discontent against his coach who ordered his replacement. According to the BBC, Ki rejected attempted handshaking by Coach Francesco Guidolin when he was substituted in their 1-0 defeat at Southampton on Sunday. Ki, who was replaced two minutes after his team lost a point, looked gloomy as he left the ground.

"This is not a good attitude. I have to speak with him,” said Coach Guidolin. Ki, who served as a starting member after scoring eight goals in the 2014-2015 season, has had significantly fewer chances to play since the inauguration of Coach Guidolin in January. As a result, some have raised concern that the mistake of "rejecting handshake" could negatively affect Ki’s stature within the team, as he is already struggling in a race to become a starting member of the team.