Son Heung-min was left upset after what ex-manager Jose Mourinho said to him in front of Tottenham squad
Tottenham Hotspur skipper Son Heung-min has confessed he was “so upset” by Jose Mourinho after the former boss belittled him in front of the whole squad.
The South Korea international has been one of the pivotal figures in the Tottenham Hotspur squad over the years. Since signing from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of £22m in the summer of 2015, he has gone on to score 162 goals and register 84 assists in 408 appearances across all competitions for the north London outfit thus far.
Son Heung-min was named the club’s captain after veteran goalkeeper Hugo Lloris departed for MLS side Los Angeles FC last summer. During his time at Tottenham, the versatile forward has played under several managers and given his best. Between 2019 and 2021, the South Asian star was coached by legendary manager Jose Mourinho.
Reflecting on his time under Mourinho in an interview with EAFC (h/t Football London), Son has recalled an incident when the Portuguese tactician gave him a dressing down in front of his Spurs team-mates. He was upset about how Mourinho handled the situation in the dressing room, which shook him.
“During half time, he embarrassed me in front of everyone and said: ‘You don’t wanna be in a game with teams like Burnley and Stoke.'”
“I was so upset. After the game, Mourinho apologized.”
“He said he wanted to ensure other players weren’t lazy by yelling to me as Spurs’ best player.”
Over the years, Mourinho is renowned for his habit of challenging and grilling players personally or in front of the whole dressing room to spark a reaction. During his prime years as a manager at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, the Portuguese’s antics worked extremely well which led to him being so successful in his career.
However, times have changed and the sport has evolved in the last 10 years, which the current Fenerbahce tactician has not really managed to get accustomed to. It could be argued that the time Mourinho was brought in at Spurs was wrong, especially after sacking Mauricio Pochettino. Both the managers’ personality, playing style and leadership skills are poles apart, so the majority of Spurs players struggled to cope with the demands of Mourinho.
In the end, the club’s atmosphere had become toxic under Mourinho and he was sacked just days before the 2021 Carabao Cup final against Manchester City, which unfortunately Spurs lost. He was a polarizing figure during his tenure at Tottenham and it was unsurprising to see the majority of the fans then were more than delighted to see him leave in April 2021.
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As for Son, the forward has stayed loyal to our club during good and bad times. The South Korean’s style of play perfectly suits ‘Ange Ball’, with the forward given freedom to take up different positions to influence the game, create chances, link up play and score goals at will. It is high time he wins a trophy with Spurs and ends our long trophy drought.
