Heung-min Son has been a sensation for Tottenham Hotspur since joining the North London club in 2015. He has been a fan favourite and created one of the deadliest scoring partnerships with Harry Kane. Son also became an inspiration for many Asian players and is highly regarded in Europe. However, the 2022-23 season didn’t work in favour of the South Korean. He received another setback after Harry Kane decided to join Bayern Munich.
Son was handed the duty of captaincy at Spurs by new manager Ange Postecoglou, and since then, he has never stepped down. Tottenham Hotspur are enjoying their football under the new manager and are undefeated in the Premier League. They have impressed everyone with their tremendous display, and Son has played a key role in taking them to the next level. Let’s take a look at how the 31-year-old is making his mark as the club captain.
Leading the attack
Tottenham Hotspur didn’t spend Kane’s money on bringing in another like-to-like striker. The manager opted to go with the same team and added Brennan Johnson to assist the attack. Heung-min Son has often played as a centre-forward this season and has scored six goals in nine appearances. The shot map shows that Son has been excellent at finding space inside the opposition penalty box. He averages 6.18 touches inside the penalty box per 90 minutes and takes 3.03 shots with a 45.8% accuracy rate.
Things were different in 2022-23 as the South Korean only averaged 2.74 touches inside the penalty box. His shot average was decent at 2.24 per 90 minutes, and the accuracy rate was also high at 51.1%. This season, Son is more confident and has found better scoring positions.
Creative side
Heung-min Son has played on the left flank since joining Spurs. This is his natural position, and Son has been a hit in that position. Playing as a centre-forward doesn’t allow him to make a lot of progressive runs. However, whenever Son gets a chance to run at defenders, he never lets it go.
The South Korean has made 14 such runs and has a 65% dribble success rate. The ability of a wide forward to take on defenders often allows them to get into decent positions to pass the ball. Son averages 1.76 passes to the opposition penalty box per 90 minutes, with an impressive accuracy rate of 85.7%. He often links play with the full-back and rotates his position by going wide and waiting for the ball in the centre.
The above pizza chart shows the percentile rank of the player in comparison to other centre-forwards in the English Premier League 2023-24. It can be observed that Son is at the top of the chart, and this is one of the reasons why his side is also at the top.
The 31-year-old South Korean has returned to his goal-scoring touch. He is one of the top-rated players in the English top division and will look to lead his side to a top-four finish.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
