da doce： Son Heung-Min can’t play as Tottenham Hotspur’s striker.
On the chalkboard
da betway： The South Korea international played in the role against Middlesbrough, with WhoScored reporting that Jose Mourinho set up his team in a 3-5-2 formation.
Son was alongside Lucas Moura at the tip of the spear, with Harry Kane nursing a hamstring injury.
Son, of course, is an excellent wide player and is also a prolific presence; he has scored 10 goals this season already but he is at home on the left flank.
The big fat Tottenham quiz of 2019 – how much do you remember about the last year at Spurs?
When he is deployed on that side, he has the ability to drop a little bit deeper and collect the ball on the half-turn before sprinting at the opposition and playing one-twos, finding the striker, or even carrying the ball at the defence, as he did with his brilliant solo goals against both Burnley and Chelsea.
Son, though, was not really able to do that against Boro. Of course, they set up with a low block to counter the pace offered by Spurs’ attacking players but his heatmap shows that he did not really get any sort of sniff in the opposition box.
In total, he had 63 touches of the ball but managed just one shot on goal, which was blocked, and completed just 33% of the dribbles he attempted, while he was also dispossessed twice.
Not his position
Son will have his effectiveness blunted if Mourinho continues to insist on playing him through the middle.
This is a player who needs to be facing the opposition goal and constantly moving forward, instead of trying to hold the ball up and provide a focal point.
Indeed, Son is more of a supplemental threat, a player who can chip in with contributions instead of being the main man through the middle.
Against Boro, a team who are currently 16th in the Championship and who are clearly worse than Spurs, he could not get into the game.
That, in a nutshell, is a problem and speaks to the fact that he needs to be playing on the left wing, instead of through the middle.
Meanwhile, Spurs have been urged to sign a player from their bitter rivals.