Sunday’s derby day defeat to Arsenal yet again highlighted the worrying decline of Heung-Min Son this season. For what seems the 100th time this season, Son was totally absent for the majority of the game, providing barely anything in the final third.
Slow, lack-lustre and clearly not at his best – it was only seven months ago we witnessed the South Korean win the Premier League golden boot, joint with Mohammed Salah on 23 goals.
The 24 games since Son picked up the prestigious award has seen him only score six goals in 24 games – meaning he’s only scoring once every four games (0.25 goals per game) – that stat is actually made worse by the fact three of those goals came in one game against Leicester (via Transfermarkt). This goalscoring tally is far behind his heroics from last season in which he scored just over a goal every other game (0.53 goals per game).
So why cant Son find the back of the net?
The stats (via FB Ref) suggest that Son’s goalscoring problems may lie at the fact he is actually struggling to hit the target this season. For example, last season in the league he was hitting the target 55.8% of the time which puts him in the elite bracket of forwards, this season, however, has saw that percentage fall to 47.9%. It may not sound like much but with Tottenham’s goalscoring opportunities coming few and far between, it is vital that Sonny tests the keeper.
Another area in which Sonny seems to be struggling is dribbling with the ball. For the past few seasons Son has been one of the most feared players in the league when it comes to running at defenders, however this season that simply is not the case. For example, this season Son’s dribble success rate only sits at 35.1% – falling from last season’s total of 55.4%.
Some people including myself may wonder why Son’s stats and performances are depleting week on week and the answer may be a string of different factors. One of those factors may be the sad realisation that Son’s legs may just be slowing down. Son is now in his 30s and may be starting to feel the effects of constant game time over the past few years. For example, Son has played over 3,000 minutes in each of his last five seasons at Spurs (via Transfermarkt) and that is surely going to catch up with him sometime and it seems that time may be now.
I don’t think I am only the Spurs fan that hopes Son can get through this rough patch and start to re-create some of the world-class performances we have seen over the past few years because Spurs well and truly need him back to his old self.
Spurs fans, what do you make of Son’s season? Have your say by visiting the VitalSpurs fan forum here