Former England international Jermaine Jenas was concerned by Heung-Min Son’s positioning as Tottenham Hotspur crashed out of the Champions League at the hands of AC Milan, speaking to BT Sport (8 March, 8pm).
Another false dawn, perhaps?
Son’s stunning hat-trick against Leicester City before the Qatar World Cup was supposed to kick-start his season. And then came another long, barren run. Now, history is repeating itself; Son’s well-taken finish off the bench against West Ham United preceding another spell of poor form.
Maybe, with his 31st birthday approaching, we’ve seen the best of Heung-Min Son. His explosive pace and rapid movement diminished by age and a gruelling fixture schedule.
Son, as Tottenham failed to break down a disciplined AC Milan side in North London on Wednesday night, once again looked a shadow of his usually irrepressible self; that burst of acceleration that made him such a fearful opponent conspicuous by it’s absence.
Can Heung-Min Son get back to his best at Tottenham Hotspur?
And Jenas was concerned to see Son drop deep against Milan, almost playing in a central midfield role at times, instead of making the sort of defence-stretching runs he made his trademark in Tottenham white.
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“I see Son getting on the ball in those positions much too much,” muses the former Spurs midfielder. “He’s much better when he’s running onto things, running behind people.” ‘
There were shades, perhaps, of an Real Madrid-era Eden Hazard in Son’s performance. A man who appears to have lost a yard of pace and now seems uncertain of how to do what used to come oh-so natural to him.
Some of Son’s best performances this term have come off the bench; the South Korean superstar far more effective as an impact sub up against tired defences. And Tottenham legend Glenn Hoddle wonders if that is a tactic Antonio Conte should repeat.
“He’s playing in chains. He played for weeks in chains,” he told BT Sport. “He’s not even thinking about what he’s going to do with the ball. He’s just worried about getting the ball under control.
“He has scored goals from the bench. Take him out, take him out and let him come on from the sidelines.”
In other news, ‘Ones to watch’: Liverpool now tipped to bid for 24-year-old Argentina star
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