Ryan Mason explains what pleases him most about Son’s recent Spurs displays

Ryan Mason has explained that even though Son Heung-min might have not scored as many goals as he would have liked this season, the fact that the South Korean continues to get into decent goal-scoring positions is a reason for optimism.

Son is one of many players in the Tottenham squad who have underperformed over the course of the campaign.

However, despite that, the forward has still managed 14 goals and four assists across all competitions, which shows how ridiculously high his standards are (Transfermarkt).

Son netted Tottenham’s equaliser on Thursday against Manchester United and missed another golden opportunity in the second half but Mason insisted that he is encouraged to see the forward getting into good positions.

The interim Spurs head coach told Football.London: “Yeah, I think Sonny is at his best when he is attacking the line, attacking space.

“We saw last night that the goal came from that combination with him and Harry where Harry gets on the ball and Sonny comes alive.

“Sonny’s had many chances this season and probably could have ended up with 20 to 25 goals at this stage of the season if he had been a bit more clinical or had a bit more luck at times.

“The most pleasing thing for me is throughout the season, yes Sonny has been disappointed he hasn’t scored more goals but ultimately he has always got in the positions and continued to make the runs.

“When you’re an attacking player that is key because at some point you’re luck will change, the goal will go in and you’ll find rhythm and start scoring again.

“Hopefully, Sonny will be key for us in the next five games.”

Son will turn 31 this summer and has just two years left on his contract at Spurs but Mason batted away questions about whether the former Bayer Leverkusen man could stay at the North London club beyond 2025.

He said: “Sonny is a robust player and pretty much plays week in, week out, most seasons.

“We appreciate him, value him as a player and he is a team player which first and foremost is the most important thing.

“I can’t speak about in one, two or three years’ time because our focus right now has to be on finishing the season as well as possible and we’ll go into the summer and see what happens.”

When asked if Son could continue playing at the highest level into his mid to late thirties like we have seen some other superstars do recently, the 31-year-old responded: “Yes, naturally as years go by and research, sports science and nutrition gets better, players probably can prolong their career at the highest level.

“We’re seeing that with players. Some players are playing until they are 35, 36, 37 still at the highest level and hopefully some of our top players can do that.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Son does rely on his sharpness and pace a bit more than the likes of Kane, which means that the South Korean would likely not be as effective when he loses half a yard.

However, the 31-year-old clearly takes extremely good care of his body, which is why I do not see him losing that sharpness until his mid-thirties.

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