‘Nobody is talking’ – Heung-min Son throws light on Tottenham defender

Son Heung-min has praised Toby Alderweireld for his ability to pick out his runs with pin-point longballs, admitting that the Belgian’s passing is underrated.

There has been a decline in the quality of Alderweireld’s performances over the last two seasons but from the evidence of this season, the 32-year-old is still arguably Tottenham’s most important centre-back.

The former Ajax star was partnered at centre-back by Eric Dier during the start of the season as Spurs went on a great run and were sitting at the top of the table.

The Tottenham defence then started leaking some poor goals which led Jose Mourinho to chop and change his backline but the Spurs boss has now settled on a pairing of Sanchez and Alderweireld, who have looked solid in recent weeks.

Son has now admitted that the Belgian international is one of the best in the Spurs side at picking out his runs.

When asked who, apart from Harry Kane, he has a great relationship on the pitch, Son told Stadium Astro (via TBR Football): “I think everyone does. I think Tanguy (Ndombele) is understanding me very, very well. Moussa understands me well too.

“Toby though is definitely one. I think because he’s far away from me (on the pitch), I think nobody is talking about Toby’s passing but he’s understanding me really, really well.”

Spurs Web Opinion

While Toby’s diagonals have always been excellent, he is not really brave in possession of the ball when he is pressed. One of the disadvantages of a Dier-Sanchez partnership is that we are unable to build from the back when the opposition presses us high up the pitch.

While there are certainly question marks around Dier’s defending, the England international is capable of striding into space with the ball and allows Spurs to keep hold of possession rather than taking the safe option back to Hugo Lloris on every occasion.

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