Ange Postecoglou has said that Son Heung-min is not the type of player to rest on his laurels and is always keen to showcase his best in every single game that he plays.
Son was once again the difference maker for Tottenham against Luton Town, with the Lilywhites captain netting an 86th-minute winner to help his side get a crucial three points.
The South Korean has always stepped up time and again when the team needed him the most over his nine seasons at Tottenham and following his latest striker, he moved up to fifth in Spurs’ all-time goalscorers rankings.
That is a huge achievement for someone who has played the majority of his matches out wide rather than as the central striker.
Heung-min Son sets very high standards for himself
Postecoglou confessed that the most impressive thing about the 31-year-old is the fact that he does not allow his standards or those of his teammates to drop.
When asked about Son moving up to fifth place in Tottenham’s all-time goal charts, the Australian told Football.London: “I think the thing about Sonny is that irrespective of opposition or whatever game it is, he has this really high level of expectation on himself to be the best he can be all the time. It’s very hard to be like that.
“It’s a lot easier to try and get comfortable in the state of being as a person or as a player because he’s done so much already. But he wants to maintain the highest possible standards whenever he plays, and when you see that with his football, his efforts, his leadership now so it’s all-encompassing.
“Look, he’s been a brilliant footballer for this club for a long time and hopefully for many years to come, and again I thought he was really unlucky with a couple of chances and some good saves. But when we needed him he was there and got the job done.”
What made Son’s late burst into the box against Luton even more impressive was the fact that the forward was coming into the game after playing 90 minutes in both legs of South Korea’s World Cup qualifiers against Thailand during the international break.
When asked if his captain ever feels tired, Postecoglou responded: “I am sure he feels tired. Yeah absolutely. It’s tough. When I was the national team coach of Australia, we had quite a few players playing this side of the world and you talk to them.
“Mile is a classic example of that where they come back, they’re long trips, there is time difference but like I said before he never looks for those clutches, Sonny. For him when he is available, he wants to play to the highest possible level and he keeps doing it.
“Playing for his national team is hugely important to him. Playing for this football club is hugely important to him and he wouldn’t compromise either by letting his standards drop. He gets on with it, we try to look after him the best we can and the proof is in what he produces.”
Spurs Web Opinion
We are extremely lucky to have a leader like Sonny. One often finds that superstar attacking players (like Mbappe or Salah for example) expect their teammates to take up some of their work burden so that they can maximise their impact in the final third.
However, Sonny works as hard as anyone else off the ball, thus setting the standards for his teammates.
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