Tottenham’s ‘faded fighting spirit’
Tottenham’s Son Heung-min shows regret by covering his face with a uniform in the 2022-2023 English Premier League match against Aston Villa held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England on 1st. London | Reuters Yonhap News
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He even took off his mask as if he was frustrated during the game. And I ran full time. The team displayed lethargic performance and eventually suffered a complete loss at home. Son Heung-min (31, Tottenham) and Tottenham also have a long tunnel of slowness. Tottenham lost 0-2 in their 2022-2023 English Premier League (EPL) round 18 match against Aston Villa held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England on the 1st. Tottenham, who scored first twice in the 17th round away from Brentford and rallied with two goals to equalise, bowed their heads in their first home game since the league resumed.
Son Heung-min, who sustained an orbital fracture injury in his final UEFA Champions League group stage match against Marseille in November last year, wore a black mask and played full-time in UEFA Cup matches World in Qatar and Brentford. However, in the 19th minute of the first half, he took off his mask as if he was frustrated and continued to race full-time in that state.
Son Heung-min, who took off his mask, looked much better than before, perhaps due to his wider field of vision. He even actively directed himself. Even so, it was not possible to raise the point of attack and the team could not avoid defeat. Son Heung-min has only 5 goals and 2 assists in competitive matches this season, including 3 goals and 2 assists in the league and 2 goals in the Champions League.
Tottenham did well at the start of the season but as they go into the middle various problems erupt at once. The defense is unstable and the chemistry between Son Heung-min and Ivan Perisic is still the worst. Injuries to forwards are also a problem.
Tottenham gave up two goals that day and showed restless defense. Tottenham have continued to drop points in 7 league games and 10 competitive games in a row, especially after 35 years since 1988, leaving a disgraceful record of 2 points conceded in 7 consecutive league games.
A Tottenham staff are picking up a mask that Son Heung-min took off during the match. London | Reuters Yonhap News
The dissonance between Son Heung-min and Perisic grew even more. Just before the end of the first half of the day, Son Heung-min considered passing to Perisic, who was digging wide, and finally passed the ball to another teammate. Subsequently, the referee blew the half-time whistle and Perisic got annoyed with Son Heung-min. In the middle of the second half, Perisic did not give a pass directly to Son Heung-min, who was digging into the space behind the opponent’s defense, but passed a shot late, so it was declared offside, and Son Heung-min scored a distorted look at Perisic.
If Son Heung-min is pinned, he has to find a way out at the other end, starting with Harry Kane, but with Hischarlisson and Lucas Mora leaving with injuries, Dejan Kulusevski also suffered a hamstring injury, reducing his resources available.
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte could not hide his frustration with the team’s increasingly bleak situation. Coach Conte said after the match: “We have Kane, Heung-Min Son, Hisharlisson and Kulusevski, and if two of them are injured, problems arise. This has happened a lot this season. He also said of Son Heung-min, “We must continue to develop.” Also, when asked if we can rank in the top 4 this season, “I repeat that it was a miracle that we achieved this last season. We were only playing league games at the time and 12-13 of the best players have played the last 15 games without injury,” he said, implying it was realistically difficult.
