Pochettino reveals secret behind Son Heung-Min’s Spurs turnaround
According to the Evening Standard, former Tottenham Hotspur Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that the club’s decision to let Son Heung-Min participate in the Asian Games saved his Tottenham career.
Son led his country to the gold medal in the 2018 edition of the continental competition. The success ensured the player’s exemption from South Korea’s mandatory 21-month military service.
The tournament is not on FIFA’s calendar and the club took the decision to permit the player to take part. Pochettino believes that he should be given more credit for his decision to let the Spurs ace take his leave of absence.
“No one says anything about that. It was our decision to provide him the time to go.”
The Argentine went on to add that the club took a very selfless decision in choosing to send the player to the tournament. This, in spite of him missing a few games, especially in the absence of Harry Kane who was out injured. (h/t Evening Standard)
Had South Korea not won the tournament, Son would have had to cut short his stay at Tottenham in order to serve in the military.
Sending the player to take part in the tournament proved to be an inspired decision. Son returned a hero and has since gone on to establish himself as one of our finest players.
He played a critical role in our run to the Champions League final last season. He produced a couple of memorable performances, especially in the quarter-finals against Manchester City.
Tottenham’s form nosedived following the loss to Liverpool in the final. In spite of considerable investment, we have failed to hit the heights of last season and have largely flattered to deceive. Pochettino also admitted that after doing well to reach the final, it would have been amazing to win the Champions League.
“Of course people recognise the job was fantastic, but to finish winning the Champions League would have been amazing.” (h/t Evening Standard)
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Son has continued to impress and has scored a number of key goals this season. He is just behind Harry Kane in this season’s goalscoring charts and has notched up an impressive return of 16 goals and 8 assists.
