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| 사진=Action Images via Reuters-REUTER Yonhap News |
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| 사진=Action Images via Reuters-REUTER Yonhap News |
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Son Heung-min (Tottenham) expressed his honest feelings.
Tottenham, led by manager Enze Postecoglou, won 1-0 in Manchester United's 2024-2025 English Premier League (EPL) home game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on the 17th (Korean time). Tottenham jumped to 12th place (30 points) with two consecutive wins. On the other hand, Manchester United (29 points) have lost two consecutive games. It dropped two spots to 15th place.
Tottenham were desperate for a turnaround. I recently experienced the pain of being eliminated from two competitions. Tottenham was completely defeated 0-4 in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal of the 2024-2025 season against Liverpool at Anfield in Liverpool, England on the 7th. Tottenham took the lead with a 1-0 home win in the first leg of last month's semi-final. Even if they drew on this day, they were in an advantageous situation to reach the final. However, they had a nightmare defeat at Anfield with a total of 1-4. As a result, Tottenham's first attempt to win the League Cup in 17 years since winning the 2007-2008 season went up in smoke. Tottenham lost 1-2 to Aston Villa in the round of 32 strongest teams of the FA Cup in the 2024-2025 season at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, on the 10th.
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| 사진=Action Images via Reuters-REUTER Yonhap News |
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The arrow of criticism turned to Son Heung-min. Phil Thompson, who played for Liverpool in the past, said on a podcast that `I think it's important for players to be with the manager. It must be hard because there are so many injuries. But there are also players who seem to be lost. Are they no longer listening to the director. The biggest player is Son Heung-min. What happened to him. He was an energetic player. But now it looks like there is too little energy. It seems that there is no more passion, dedication, or ability to do so.'
Some people said it was sold. British media Give Me Sports reported 'Tottenham is going through a tricky time. A full-scale reorganization may be needed to move in the right direction. Tottenham is said to be considering Son Heung-min's exit and will carefully consider reorganizing the squad. Son Heung-min has been a Tottenham icon for many years. However, there are currently open opinions about Son Heung-min's transfer. Son recently extended his contract by one year. But now I have to make a big decision. The sale of Son Heung-min will undoubtedly be the biggest decision.
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| 사진=Action Images via Reuters-REUTER Yonhap News |
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Son Heung-min reversed his criticism with his performance. Son started on the left wing of a 4-3-3 tactic against Manchester United. He drew James Madison's score in the 13th minute of the first half when the game was 0-0. Son Heung-min hit a left-footed volley shot from the left side of the penalty area to Rodrigo Bentancur's cross from the right side. When the ball flowed after hitting the defender, Lucas Beribal caught it in front of the penalty area and hit it with his left foot, which was blocked by the goalkeeper's defense, and rolled back to the right side of the goal area. Madison jumped in quickly and finished the scoring with his right foot.
Son Heung-min returned to the bench in the 42nd minute of the second half after being replaced by 20-year-old midfielder Wilson Odobert. He made three attempts to shoot and gave up four key passes. After the game, SofaScore, a professional soccer statistics player, gave Son a 7.5 rating. Footmob gave a rating of 7.8. British media Football London said Son Heung-min's volley shot led to Madison's score. In the middle of the first half, he created a shot opportunity for Tel. However, in the second half, it did not give the same influence as in the first half, but it continued to create opportunities.
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| Photo = AFP Yonhap News |
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After the game, Son Heung-min said in an interview with Sports Chosun in the mixed zone (joint coverage area), "It was difficult. Not only mentally, but also physically. It's because for two and a half months, all the players have really done their best and endured a hard time. I think I needed some time to recharge. I did a little bit of training again over the past week that we haven't been able to do so far. I found a little bit of rhythm. I think it helped me a lot in this game. "All the players are important, but I think the atmosphere of the players has improved and the confidence has increased a lot as the experienced players have returned."
Madison received an unfair comment when he made a `shhhhhhhhhh ceremony' after scoring on the day. As a team member, I was upset by the captain. He is a player of good ability. Receiving such (bad) comments itself didn't feel good as a team captain. I try not to care at all about the noise from the outside. I'm trying not to care as much as I can. We are paying more attention to our performance and taking care of the players together and putting the most importance on it.
Regarding the criticism against him, Son Heung-min said, `Actually, the most upsetting thing is that our team's fans say so. Of course, if you have to be criticized for a difficult situation and a bad result, of course I think I'm the first one. First of all, I try not to care about such things at all. What I can talk about under my name is that I'm always doing it. I know exactly what I can do and what I have to do. This is a more important moment for the team than for me. Even if I put mine down a little bit, I'm all focused on getting my team into a better position."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
