“It was difficult to recall any scenes where I contributed to the team.”
It is a local harsh criticism towards Son Heung-min (31, Tottenham). It is right after the 29th round of the 2022-23 English Premier League (EPL) against Everton held at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England on the 4th (Korean time). It was evaluated that the performance was disappointing to the extent that there were no memorable scenes after the game.
On this day, Son Heung-min started as a left-sided striker in the 3-4-2-1 formation. It was the first game in which head coach Christian Stellini (49, Italy) took on the role of acting manager after manager Antonio Conte was sacked.
However, Son Heung-min could not record a single shot until he was replaced in the 37th minute of the second half. In the 42nd minute of the first half, in a counterattack situation, he attempted a right-footed shot following penetration at the door, but it was blocked by the opposing goalkeeper’s save, and even the shooting record was erased as an offside decision was made in the previous penetration scene. Except for this scene that did not remain in the record, it did not show any significant presence. This is the reason why Football London, England, gave only 4 ratings along with the previous criticism, saying, “It was another difficult night.” 메이저사이트
Even though the opponent was a team in the relegation zone, Tottenham’s performance was sluggish enough to give the initiative throughout the game. On this day, Tottenham was ahead in ball possession by about 6 to 4, but the forward pass from the defense or midfield to the front did not work properly. It was the same context that the number of shots was rather pushed to 8-15 even though it was a game where the opponent had a numerical advantage for 30 minutes due to the sending off.
In addition, like former coach Conte, Acting Stellini could not properly utilize Son Heung-min. Son Heung-min’s number of ball touches that day was only 27, the lowest in the team. Like the days of Conte, Ivan Perisic, who played as a left wingback, played more like a side striker than Son Heung-min, and Son Heung-min was awkwardly positioned along the same line as the central midfielders. Even in the pass distribution, it was virtually isolated.