Player Watch Player Watch: Son Heung-min

[Martinhotspur]

In Dele’s apparently shit season he has played 5 and 6 games fewer than Grealish and Maddison respectively, with 8 goals compared to Grealish on 7 and Maddison on 6, as well as 4 assists compared to Grealish on 6 and Maddison on 3. He’s also created 6 big chances compared to Grealish’s 6 and Maddison’s 7.

Averaging out Dele’s output in these areas, he’s by far the biggest attacking threat both as a goalscorer and as a creator. You could mitigate that by arguing that Grealish has achieved his stats with a worse performing side, but then you have to account for the fact that basically every attack goes through Grealish at Villa, as is also the case for Maddison at Leicester. Additionally, Dele competes with many more attack minded players at Spurs to get amongst these stats than either Maddison or Grealish do.


We focus on Dele’s frustrating qualities but I’d guess that we’d be frustrated plenty by either of the other two as well. Ultimately if he’s having a bad season, it’s only bad by his own standards and by any other measure he’s actually a highly productive player contributing significantly to anything good we do.

If he played for Villa or Leicester we would be have plenty fans on here saying to buy him. He can be frustrating at times but his knack of scoring goals is under appreciated.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

They play different roles in different teams so it’s kinda pointless to compare the stats. Grealish has a burst of pace, is a better dribbler, better long range shot, wider range of passing, and more leadership on the pitch. Probably better with his weaker foot as Dele hardly ever uses his left at all.
Dele’s defo a better finisher and stronger in the air, but that’s about it for me.

You know full well that I wasn’t necessarily saying Dele is better, just highlighting the point that if this is his bad season, then we’re blessed as it’s still significantly more effective than the other players good seasons.

Additionally, in terms of comparison to Grealish that you’ve made, even if we say Dele is inferior in those aspects (and if he is, I’d suggest only marginally), I’d counter that he’s much stronger, he’s more likely to find a through ball, he’s more imaginative and has more flair and isn’t just a better finisher, but a significantly better goalscorer due to superior movement and reading of the game.

Anyway, I never intended a ‘who is better’ discussion, I was just emphasising how underrated Dele is on here when he’s actually out contributing two players who are everyone’s current favourite fancies.

 

[danielneeds]

You know full well that I wasn’t necessarily saying Dele is better, just highlighting the point that if this is his bad season, then we’re blessed as it’s still significantly more effective than the other players good seasons.

Additionally, in terms of comparison to Grealish that you’ve made, even if we say Dele is inferior in those aspects (and if he is, I’d suggest only marginally), I’d counter that he’s much stronger, he’s more likely to find a through ball, he’s more imaginative and has more flair and isn’t just a better finisher, but a significantly better goalscorer due to superior movement and reading of the game.

Anyway, I never intended a ‘who is better’ discussion, I was just emphasising how underrated Dele is on here when he’s actually out contributing two players who are everyone’s current favourite fancies.

Dele’s a good player, I’m glad we’ve got him and really hope he can get back to his form of a couple of years ago. I’d just pick Grealish over him.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Dele’s a good player, I’m glad we’ve got him and really hope he can get back to his form of a couple of years ago. I’d just pick Grealish over him.

I appreciate why and I’d love to sign him but he’s not yet at ‘would swap Dele for him’ in my mind given quite how good Dele has been.

I’d rather see them together as Grealish is a tailor made Eriksen replacement.

 

[carpediem991]

Some on here seem to have forgot in the long Corona break that Dele played piss poor in around 80% of the games he played since Jan 2019. And that were loads of games.

We have all seen the great Dele and i pray he gets back there soon with us but its a no contest between Grealish, Maddison and him in recent time.
The other two are having so much more positive influence on their teams game nowadays.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Some on here seem to have forgot in the long Corona break that Dele played piss poor in around 80% of the games he played since Jan 2019. And that were loads of games.

We have all seen the great Dele and i pray he gets back there soon with us but its a no contest between Grealish, Maddison and him in recent time.
The other two are having so much more positive influence on their teams game nowadays.

Other than when it comes to scoring and creating goals ?

 

[carpediem991]

Other than when it comes to scoring and creating goals ?

He has qualities in popping up in good areas and scoring and his stats doesnt look too bad. But take away the 3,4 games when Jose came in and he really shined and its a bit average.
And he is fucking up lots of attacking moves too by bumbling around and looking for a nutmeg or taking way too long.on the ball and takes momentum.

While the other two seem to develop and add things to their game we still seem to have a slightly worse Dele version of his first season. Thats frustrating.

 

[danielneeds]

He has qualities in popping up in good areas and scoring and his stats doesnt look too bad. But take away the 3,4 games when Jose came in and he really shined and its a bit average.
And he is fucking up lots of attacking moves too by bumbling around and looking for a nutmeg or taking way too long.on the ball and takes momentum.

While the other two seem to develop and add things to their game we still seem to have a slightly worse Dele version of his first season. Thats frustrating.

That’s unfair. Dele has suffered from the lack of structure to our midfield together with persistent injuries. That said, he really needs to nail down a role in a side. Is he a shadow striker or is he an attacking midfielder? The fact that we don’t really know at this stage is worrying.

 

[Shadydan]

Same old arguments, welcome back football

 

[punkisback]

You know full well that I wasn’t necessarily saying Dele is better, just highlighting the point that if this is his bad season, then we’re blessed as it’s still significantly more effective than the other players good seasons.

Additionally, in terms of comparison to Grealish that you’ve made, even if we say Dele is inferior in those aspects (and if he is, I’d suggest only marginally), I’d counter that he’s much stronger, he’s more likely to find a through ball, he’s more imaginative and has more flair and isn’t just a better finisher, but a significantly better goalscorer due to superior movement and reading of the game.

Anyway, I never intended a ‘who is better’ discussion, I was just emphasising how underrated Dele is on here when he’s actually out contributing two players who are everyone’s current favourite fancies.

I do agree with this in part. He's a great at doing the complicated things such as getting a goal from nowhere or a flick on from nowhere. He does his best work on the edge of the D; either running onto a ball or flicking it on. However the simple things that you need in a build up are lacking such as keeping the tempo, playing with his head up and not dribbling down blind alleys. He looses the ball quite a bit. However it's these simple things are that are easier to train as these are all tactical and behavioural rather than technical or physical. If he played a simple game deeper then came alive further up the field this would really take him to the next stage of his development. However in the past few years he hasn't been taught this or taken it up himself.

 

[walworthyid]

That’s unfair. Dele has suffered from the lack of structure to our midfield together with persistent injuries. That said, he really needs to nail down a role in a side. Is he a shadow striker or is he an attacking midfielder? The fact that we don’t really know at this stage is worrying.

I'm not sure that it's the lack of a clear role. We know what he is good at. He is excellent as a goalscoring midfielder running freely off of the striker. The problem was previously that we had no alternative ways to play or alternatives to him due to a thin squad.

He is still one of the best in the league at what he does and we should be building our team around our best players.

 

[Deleted member 29446]

Son has created the most chances in the league for Tottenham this season. This figure is the second lowest across Premier league teams though

Depressing that.

Well when you sell your #10 and your two major signings really hasn't cut it just yet for multiple reasons, add to that Mourinho's style of play and Dele being Dele and not a #10 you can see why Son is our most creative player.

 

[Johno1470]

When Son first arrived he was happy to be a team player. To put in a shift defensively and work for a team. However in the last season or two he’s stepped up and shown he can be a game winner. He can be the main man in the team. I honestly don’t think he’s gonna like having to revert back to being a wing back or loads of defensive responsibilities. Can see him maybe looking away in a season or two if it continues. Jose’s always gonna cater towards Kane & Alli.

 

[Deleted member 27995]

Radio silence ... He was non existent tonight.

 

[al_pacino]

He's been poor since the comeback but he's always been streaky. He can be genuinely rubbish for 3 games and then score 5 in the next 3.

 

[spursfan77]

His worst performance in a spurs shit today. Absolutely terrible.

 

[Tottenhamboy85]

Radio silence ... He was non existent tonight.

Has been since we restarted yet somehow got two assists

 

[razzmaster]

His worst performance in a spurs shit today. Absolutely terrible.

Totally agree

 

[Deleted member 27995]

Has been since we restarted yet somehow got two assists

This season needs to end.

 

[ajspurs]

Yeah, I mean, I know he got an assist in the end today and very harshly had a goal ruled out against West Ham but he's offered very little since the return. As frustrating as Lucas was today, he looked to impose himself a lot more than Son did.

Still, with the way we're playing, and I even include Dele who's football sometimes I honestly can't stand but I'm not sure I lay the blame solely on them. I think this current team isn't an easy one to play in for an attacker.