Postecoglou: 'I think he was probably the best attacking player in the competition'

Ange Postecoglou believes that Heung Min Son is the best attacking player in the Premier League.

Sun, 11 Feb, 2024 - 22:30

Gerry Cox

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2 (Sarr 61, Johnson 90+6)

BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION 1 (Gross pen 17)

IS ANGE POSTECOGLOU correct in his belief that Heung Min Son is the best attacking player in the Premier League?

Bare statistics suggest others deserve that accolade. Erling Haaland is the competition's leading scorer at the moment with 16 goals, having hit 36 goals last season, and Mohammed Salah is not far behind with 14 goals so far. Son had scored 12 goals before departing for the Asian Cup in Qatar on New Year's Day. The Egyptian can boast more assists in his Premier League career than the other two, though not as many as Kevin De Bruyne, recently restored to Manchester City's side after injury.

In terms of goal involvements, perhaps the best measure of an attacking player, De Bruyne (174) is one ahead of Son's total of 173, while Salah is well ahead with 220, though it should be remembered the Liverpool man has scored 24 penalties in the league. Son has only scored two from the spot.

And they all lag well behind Harry Kane, who racked up 263 goal involvements before leaving Spurs for Bayern Munich last summer. So the onus at Tottenham has been on Son to emerge from Kane's giant shadow and take over in terms of leading the team, wearing the captain's armband and also creating and scoring goals.

His latest involvement, setting up Brennan Johnson's winner deep into stoppage time on Saturday, was invaluable. Having returned from Qatar on Thursday after playing six games for South Korea in the desert heat over the previous fortnight, Son was held back by Postecoglou for an hour as Spurs struggled to get parity with a lively Brighton side who had opened the scoring with an early Pascal Gross penalty.

His introduction just after the hour mark followed Pape Matar Sarr's equaliser, and Son immediately gave Tottenham more of a goal threat from the left wing, where Timo Werner had ploughed away fruitlessly. The German is arguably as quick and able to beat defenders as Son, but his final passes lacked the precision of his captain, who delivered a perfect low cross for Johnson to convert joyously in the closing seconds of a game Tottenham needed to win in order to keep pace with the rest of the top five.

No wonder Postecoglou was effusive in his praise. “It maybe looks simple but the ball that Sonny played (to Johnson) was a world-class player in a clutch moment, finding the right pass.”

Believing Son would struggle from the start, his manager added: “We were worried about fatigue, that's why we brought him on in the second half. He was ready to play and wanted to play. Two of Korea's games went to extra-time and their last game was pretty draining as well.

“If we were desperate he probably would have started. But we had other options, which meant we could protect him. I think it was better for him that he came on and played the minutes he did.”

He went on. “Maybe the nation he plays for works against him but I think he's a world-class player. You look at his record in the Premier League, the toughest league in the world, his goal contributions irrespective of how the team's gone through the time he's been here have always been right up there.

“Even this season, before he left (for Qatar), I think he was probably the best attacking player in the competition. That's just my opinion obviously. Certainly he'd be up there. He's a world-class player. I thought we did well to cover his absence, Richarlison and a few others stepped up in terms of goal threat, but to have a world-class player for the run-in is brilliant for us.”

It may be fanciful thinking, and Postecoglou is certainly not getting carried away, but Spurs should not be written out of this season's title race yet. With key players such as James Maddison, Micky Van de Ven and Cristian Romero back from injury, and Yves Bissouma returning along with Son and Sarr from international duty, Postecoglou can now pick his strongest side for the first time in three months, when Tottenham's superb start to the season was derailed by a rash of injuries and suspensions following their 4-1 defeat by Chelsea.

Up to that point, Tottenham had surprised many by leading the title race with eight wins and two draws in their opening ten games. Postecoglou has also added depth to his squad with January signings Werner and Radu Dragusin, and if Spurs were to reproduce that early season form in their remaining 14 games, it could make for an exciting finale. Their next eight games are eminently winnable, against the likes of Wolves, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Luton and Nottingham Forest. They then face Manchester City and Arsenal at home, and Liverpool away, before their final two games are against Burnley and Sheffield United, who are likely to have been relegated by that stage.

Could Spurs still figure in what is turning into a very tight title race? If they keep Son fit and firing, why not?

TOTTENHAM 4-2-3-1: Vicario 7; Porro 7, Romero 7, Van de Ven 8, Udogie 7 (Davies 80); Sarr 8 (Hojbjerg 80), Bentancur 6 (Bissouma 62); Kulusevski 6 (Johnson 62), Maddison 7, Werner 6 (Son 62); Richarlison 7.

BRIGHTON 4-3-3: Steele 8; Lamptey 6 (Veltman 89), Van Hecke 6, Dunk 7, Estupinan 7; Gross 7, Gilmour 8 (Baker-Boaitey 89), Lallana 5 (Fati 57); Buonanotte 6, Welbeck 6 ( Baleba 89) , Mitoma 7.

Referee: Sam Barrott 9