SON Heung-min really was everywhere. He was in the shop windows along Park Lane. He was draped across damp burger vans. He was held up by visiting South Koreans, posing for photos outside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. His name was the only one to properly raise the colossal roof.
At halftime, former captain Hugh Lloris bid an emotional farewell to the club after 12 seasons and 447 appearances, but it was no more than a symbolic, albeit poignant, gesture. The baton passed a long time ago. Son is in charge now. The heavens opened on the final day of 2023 and the South Korean reigned throughout.
Tottenham’s 3-1 victory against Bournemouth was entirely in keeping with blustery conditions around the stadium and on the pitch. They poured over their opponents and then dissipated with equal immediacy. Spurs remain a fascinating attacking experiment without a middle ground. They surge. They disappear. They surge. They disappear again. Manager Ange Postecoglou is pioneering an engrossing game of peekaboo in the English Premier League.
Will it lead to silverware and a coveted place in the top four? Who knows? Does it pose too many risks with a weakened squad? Almost certainly. Will it irritate as much as it exhilarates? Most definitely. Spurs’ boom-and-bust approach to EPL management was reflected in the stands as fans applauded another lightning raid and then lamented a misplaced pass, yet another gap in defence or Son’s apparent reluctance to retreat.
He did, but in a rather cerebral, slightly pretentious Messi-esque kind of way. He wasn’t really ponderous. He just pondered. It was a treat to watch the cogs turn and marvel at the deliberate conservation of energy. Is that a flowery way of saying the South Korean was too lazy to put a shift in and track back? Not really. Son remains Postecoglou’s instigator in chief. He’s not a gatekeeper.
So his position, like Tottenham generally, is a tightrope walk. Postecoglou insists on attacking domination despite not having enough dominant attackers, leaving Son to plough lonely furrows and see things a little quicker than those around him. His vision can keep up with his manager’s tactical idealism, but not everyone else can. Son’s no-look pass to Richarlison in the 52nd minute was Ange Ball at its best: fast, inventive and entirely unexpected. It’s just that Richarlison didn’t seem to expect it either. He scuffed and missed.
That’s Son. That’s Tottenham. That’s entertainment. He provides the range, balance and control for a team without enough range, balance and control to execute the creative plans of an uncompromising creative director. The burden can feel almost too much. In the first half, Richarlison released Son. The South Korean cut inside, right on cue, but the shot was too cautious, too direct and was saved.
The disappointment was palpable around the stadium. Son must bury those chances because Spurs will give just as many away – they did against Bournemouth. Son has to put them away because Harry Kane has gone away and Richarlison is often away with the fairies.