00:00Heung-Min Son's recent dip in form has raised questions about his impact at Tottenham Hotspur
00:09this season. Once one of the Premier League's most consistent and world-class performers,
00:15Son has struggled to replicate the form that made him a standout player in previous campaigns.
00:20I spoke with James Trenbath of London World to discuss the potential reasons for Son's
00:26lack of impact this term, the challenges Spurs are facing and what the forward can do
00:32to rediscover his world-class form.
00:56Where do you think it's gone wrong? Why do you think he's struggled? Is it as simple
01:02as he's played so much football? Has there been added pressure on him to step up with
01:08the goals and it's just not fallen right? What's been the difference, Son, this season
01:13compared to maybe last and the seasons before when he was completely untouchable and one
01:18of the most deadliest finishers in the world? Why has it not worked and does he even get
01:24into Spurs' best 11 at the moment?
01:26I think that's a really, really good question and I think you'd have to say on current form
01:30with returning players, his position in the team, albeit he's the captain of the team
01:35and the club, might be under a little bit of threat because when Dominic Solanke comes
01:40back, he'll be the focal point. Does that mean that Matthijs Tel moves out onto the
01:44left-hand side? We've obviously got Wilson Odebeer coming back who can play that role
01:47as well. Brennan Johnson on the other side. We've got Kuldeseski as well that can fill
01:51in on the flanks and then we've obviously got the young player, Mikey Moore, coming
01:54through and he deserves more minutes because he's been pretty good when we've seen him.
01:58So, lots of options for Posicoglou and some really big decisions ahead and I think you'd
02:04have to say on current form, you know, Hooman Son probably needs a bit of a break. It's
02:08a bit of a mystery in terms of his form, to be honest with you. I mean, there's the obvious
02:11factors. He's had a hamstring injury, I think you picked that, he only just came back in
02:15against West Ham earlier in the season, scored a couple of goals that day but then got injured
02:19again. So, maybe he's carrying a knock. I think you've got to look at the amount of
02:23football that he plays as well. He plays an awful lot of football, doing a lot of
02:28jet-setting back over to Korea for all the international breaks and over a number of
02:33years that really does take its toll on the legs. Maybe that's a factor. And then I think
02:39you've also got to look at his confidence as well. He's missed some big, big chances
02:42and he just looks like he's void of confidence. And then whether the leadership's just weighing
02:48a little bit heavy on him as well, could that be a factor? So, there's a number of things
02:53that it could be. There's no doubt in the fact that Son's still a world-class player.
02:58He's shown in flashes and patches that he still has all the ability. When he goes past
03:03a player, he's got two great feet, obviously left foot, right foot, but we're just missing
03:07that sort of explosive Son, I guess, if you like. The Son that used to cut in from the
03:12left-hand side and smash the ball into the top corner with his right foot and vice versa.
03:18The crossing ability just seems to have dropped off Emerson slightly. You can tell he's taking
03:25the extra touch. He's not quite confident enough to take his man on. So maybe, as with
03:30a number of players now, he just needs to be given a little bit of a rest. And I think
03:33certainly having those options coming back onto the flanks gives us a real good base
03:37to push on now for the rest of the season.
03:39Do you feel at all that he maybe misses the partnership with Harry Kane? Obviously, it's
03:45been a couple of seasons now, but that sort of partnership was unbelievable and maybe
03:49it's a case of not quite building another partnership like that just so far with some
03:55of these new players. Do you feel like that's maybe another factor that could be impacting
04:00Son's form?
04:01I think you take Harry Kane out of any team and partnerships and collaborations are going
04:06to suffer out there. But I think what you would say is that Son led the line last year
04:11without Harry Kane and his numbers were very, very good. He was excellent last season and
04:15almost still looked like the son of old. So I wouldn't say that's particularly the reason.
04:20I think it is more he's unfortunately been left with a struggling side. I wonder as well,
04:26this is just pure sort of speculation and opinion, whether his contract issues weighed
04:30him down a little bit this season. Lots of talk that he was going to get a big new contract
04:35where I suppose they've just extended the option for another 12 months in terms of why
04:39or bearing on his performance. I think it's more the factors that I've mentioned, to be honest.
