Pochettino reveals Heung Min Son’s mindset after red card

So often in his Spurs career, and in particular this season, Heung Min Son has been the hero for his faithful fans, however, he became the villain on Saturday.

It looked as if Spurs would need to secure a win at Bournemouth to guarantee a top-four finish and Champions League football next season, something that looked in the bag until a moment of madness from Sonny.

After being riled up by Bournemouth’s Jefferson Lerma, the South Korean lashed out with an aggressive push, earning him a straight red card and jeopardising Tottenham’s chances of winning.

Chasing the game, Juan Foyth then picked up a red of his own in the second half, and Spurs were left hanging on.

In retrospect, a point would have been enough to guarantee a fourth-place finish at least, but Nathan Ake killed those dreams with an injury-time headed winner.

Luckily draws from Arsenal and Man United have all but secured Champions League for Spurs next season, and taken the focus off Son’s rash decision.

Pochettino has now revealed how disappointed the star was (Football London): “All the players are important. Of course, Sonny wasn’t involved in the first leg. I think he is the first to feel disappointed after Saturday. He knows it cannot be repeated and must not happen again at this professional level. He must stay relaxed and calm in his mind.

“But tomorrow we need a very good collective performance because Ajax are a very good team. And of course it is true Sonny was not in the first leg but the most important thing is our performance as a team. Then some day some players are more important than others. But it is important we can recover him and it is important we have more than one alternative in the game.”

Spurs Web Opinion:

Son was extremely lucky that his mistake did not cost Spurs in the long run, but he will need to get his head screwed on and be at his best tomorrow night. The winger has the perfect chance to make up for his error by giving everything in the semi-final second leg, and guiding Spurs to their first ever Champions League final. In my opinion, he could be the man to spark a comeback.

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