One of the biggest concerns for Mauricio Pochettino from last season was his lack of game changers in attack as Tottenham missed out on the title. Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen were brilliant but even they had their bad days and needed someone else from the side to step up.
Erik Lamela displayed flashes of brilliance last season but Son Heung-min was average, to say the least. The South Korean though, has started this season brightly and already has a couple of goals and an assist in his three games for Spurs. Lamela, on the other hand, has two goals and two assists in his appearances for Tottenham.
This does provide a dilemma to Pochettino as he looks to start with his best XI. Son and Lamela cannot both start unless one of Alli or Eriksen is injured. This is an issue that must please the Argentine manager but which player should be the one starting most games?
Two stars finding their feet at White Hart Lane
While Lamela certainly was the more effective player last season with 11 goals, Son did not fare all that badly and chipped in with 8. But the South Korean was picked on by most pundits as he failed to put in good performances throughout the campaign.
There were many rumours doing the rounds that Son would be sold at the start of the season but Pochettino kept faith in him. The South Korean attacker seems to have taken his game up a notch and was the man of the match against Stoke City, where he got a couple of goals and an assist.
Lamela has been consistent throughout the season so far, he hasn’t been the standout player in most games but he has put in decent shifts for the side. The Argentine has been averaging 2.2 key passes per game in the Premier League while Son has chipped in with 4. Even when it comes to completed dribbles, Son leads Lamela with 2.5 over 1.6 this season.
The South Korean star also is doing better with his passes as he has a completion rate of 86% compared to Lamela’s 77.5% in the Premier League. Defensively it is the Argentine that has done more work with 1.8 tackles per match in the Premier League and 0.4 interceptions as well.
Mauricio Pochettino did state earlier that Son wanted to leave the Lane and return to Germany this season. He was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying:
“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.
“In his mind, he would like to move but in the end he accepted the decision to stay and fight for his position.”
This certainly was a good decision by both Son and the club to keep the South Korean at the Lane. The season has started brightly for Tottenham and for Son so far, and the South Korean can be the shining star for Spurs this season.
