‘The whole season in pain’ – Heung-min Son speaks honestly on his injury last year

Heung-min Son has spoken openly about his injury problems last season, after having undergone surgery for a sports hernia at the end of the campaign. 

It was a season to forget for the South Korean, with Spurs falling to eighth in the Premier League, missing out on Europe, waving goodbye to Antonio Conte, and the forward himself only registering 10 goals in 36 league games (TransferMarkt).

This was a far cry from Son’s incredible Golden Boot-winning 23 goals and 9 assists in the 2021/22 campaign, but it was eventually revealed that the Spurs winger had been playing through the pain barrier (FootballLondon).

Son has now admitted that he spent every single moment in pain throughout the season, even during the warm-ups for games.

Fortunately, the 31-year-old says going under the knife was the best decision he ever made, and he feels like a new man heading into 2023/24 season under Ange Postecoglou.

Heung-min Son ran through the pain barrier

Son said (Football London): “They were really tough moments. I’m the type who is always hiding the pain. I really didn’t want it to come out officially that I had an operation but I feel good, feel fresh. I feel a new man,” said Son during the club’s summer tour.

“Last season, the whole season in pain. It was incredible. I can’t even think about the pain, you know. Now I feel really good, fresh. The physios are still working on it because it has only been a week, 10 days so I’m looking forward to being in good shape. I’m ready to rock ‘n’ roll.”

“[Last season] I was in pain every single moment, literally. It sounds weird but every turn, running, stopping, passing, kicking, it affected everything. It was strange because in normal life, doing no exercise, it felt fine so I went on the pitch excited because I didn’t have pain when I was walking.

“As soon as I was on the pitch for a warm-up I would be frustrated because the pain is there, every action, turning, passing, kicking… finally I made the decision at the end of the season to have the surgery and I think it’s the best decision I ever made.”

He added: “Probably people are thinking why didn’t I do the surgery as early as possible but for me, it felt like for the club during the season every single moment felt like a difficult moment.

“I didn’t want to let the people down. I didn’t want to let the players and the staff down because that means a lot to me, and then the fans supporting me, I take the responsibility whether I played good or bad, with pain or not.

“One thing was clear, I didn’t want people to be let down by just going away in a tough moment because of the pain.”

When asked about the criticism he received last year, when his injury problems were still a secret, Son said: “I’m not going to say anything [about that] because I took this decision and had to take the responsibility.

“I can’t say yes it had a massive effect but the Premier League is one of the toughest leagues in the world, even if you’re 100 per cent fit it’s tough but if you can perform only 60 or 70 per cent, yeah it’s going to be a killer.

“I took the decision and I take all the blame. One thing that was just clear in these tough moments I didn’t want the players and the fans to be let down so I was holding in my pain and I suffered but it was all my decision.

“Everybody thinks in a different way. Some people in pain they want to let people know. I’m totally different. I didn’t want people to know. We are professional footballers, everyone has pain, everyone takes painkillers before the game because you are playing competitive sport and there is pain.

“I don’t know how many people go into games through the season feeling like, ‘Oh, wow I feel 100 per cent fit without pain’. I think it’s maybe one or two games a season, maybe, but you accept it because you love the sport and you have people behind you, supporting you.

“For me, it’s not important if people know or not. You take the decision and you have to perform.”

The last match of the season against Leeds United was particularly painful for the Tottenham hero: “It was every game, but to be honest, the last game of the season was really painful.

“I was really close to giving up against Leeds, but when I looked at the staff I couldn’t say there’s one more game and I’m going to have surgery now. I was just closing my eyes praying, please let’s win this game and luckily we performed.”

Spurs Web Opinion:

We all love Sonny because he is willing to run through brick walls for the team and always leads by example, but there comes a point where you have to be honest.

He should have had the surgery as soon as he knew something was wrong. But this is yet another lesson about judging players without knowing the whole picture.

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