Son shines for Spurs after Antonio Conte ‘disruption’
BACK FIRING: Son Heung-Min of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates after scoring their team's fourth goal during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City. Pic: Clive Rose/Getty Images
Heung Min Son's hat-trick and redemption after being dropped was headline news on Saturday evening, but listening to Antonio Conte afterwards and reading between the lines gave a stark illustration of the way Tottenham's manager operates, and the methods he will use to instill a winning mentality.
Clinging on to a 3-2 lead against a battling Leicester City team that belied their lowly status with bright, attacking football, Spurs needed their skipper Hugo Lloris to keep them ahead with a fine fingertip save to claw away Patson Daka's header.
Enter Son, to a standing ovation from those Spurs supporters who adore him and had been shocked but not surprised to see last season's Golden Boot winner relegated to the substitutes' bench after a run of eight games without a goal.
The Korean rose to the occasion in Hollywood style with two spectacular goals, trademark long-range shots curled into the top corners of the net, and then completed his hat-trick with a more prosaic finish that had to be verified by VAR.
Son was smiling again at the final whistle, clutching the match ball and thanking his team-mates, coaching staff and supporters for having faith in him.
Conte could easily have taken the credit for an inspired substitution and also for his smart man-management of a player whose confidence had been draining away as his goal drought continued.
But the Italian dismissed the chance of self-satisfaction in order to deliver a deeper point which underpins his mindset – that by dropping the team's most popular player, he unsettled the whole squad, made each of them wonder if they could be next, thus keeping complacency at bay.
In Silicon Valley, Conte would be called a 'disruptor', someone unafraid to rip up the established rule-book and work counter-intuitively in order to get results. It was said from his time at Chelsea that he would regularly change the dates and times of training and days off, just so his players would be on their toes, never feeling comfortable.
He took over a team that had finished 10th in the table the previous season and led them to the Premier League title in convincing fashion, ending the season seven points clear of second-placed Tottenham and 15 points ahead of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.
Conte's task to turn Spurs into a successful team is arguably bigger, given their lack of trophies in the past 14 years. He has said repeatedly since taking over almost a year ago that he needs to change the mentality, to get these young millionaires out of their comfort zone, to make them hungry for honours.
He warmed to them again on Saturday night, turning Son's situation into a wider point about the need to 'disrupt' the mindset of his players, who are keeping pace with Arsenal and Manchester City at the top of the table despite really getting into top gear so far this season. Son was a striking illustration – a player who had scored 23 goals in 35 league games last season could not find the net until Conte sat him on the bench to watch the first 59 minutes against Leicester.
Conte made the point that he had also dropped defenders Cristian Romero and Emerson Royal after losing to Sporting in Lisbon on Tuesday, and that Son's situation was more about rotation than relegation.
“I did the same in every situation I worked in, at Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan,' Conte said about his rotation policy. “When you want to be competitive and fight for something important, to lift a trophy, the players have to understand this.
“We have just started our path because, in my opinion, our squad is not still ready to be strong, compared with City, Liverpool and Chelsea - and we fight also with Arsenal and Manchester United.
“But if they continue to play every game, they won't go on to win anything. This is clear. It happened in the past here, and I want to try and change that, to bring this team to another level. I will try to do my best. I'm not worried about this, but it's not easy. It's not simple.”
Spurs have often been seen as mentally weak when it comes to getting over the finishing line, and Conte said: "I don't care what happened in the past. I have my management, I have my own idea, and my story speaks very clear. In every situation I work in, I lift a trophy at the end. It means maybe my vision, my work, and my idea of football has to be given credit.
“I go with my ideas, my thoughts, my way to build something important. I think the club is really happy for what we are doing with the players, with the staff and I don't want to compromise. I don't accept compromise from anybody. This has to be very clear. I go for my way, I go for my street, and this has to be very important because I know I am going to try to build something important for the future, for the club that decided to work with me.”
His methods were scrutinised on Saturday by a Leicester side who opened the scoring through a twice-taken Youri Tielemans penalty, then equalised again through James Maddison after Tottenham scored twice through Harry Kane and Eric Dier. Conte's half-time team-talk prompted Rodrigo Bentancur to put them back ahead and Son entered the fray to finish it off.
Having moved level on points with City, the question is whether Spurs can keep up their charge under Conte. Expect more changes to come from the great disruptor.
Lloris 7; Sanchez 6 (Romero 59), Dier 7, Lenglet 7; Perisic 7 (Emerson 55), Hojbjerg 7, Bentancur 9, Sessegnon 7; Kulusevski 7 (Bissouma 70), Kane 8, Richarlison 7 (Son 59).
Ward 5; Castagne 5, Evans 6, Faes 5, Justin 6; Tielemans 6, Ndidi 6, Maddison 8, Dewsbury-Hall 6 (Iheanacho 74), Barnes 6; Daka 5 (Vardy 74).
Simon Hooper 6/10.
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