Heung-Min Son starring for Spurs under Ange Postecoglou after Harry Kane’s exit

Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son was the Premier League player of the month for September and is thriving in a new role following Harry Kane’s exit. We look at how new manager Ange Postecoglou has reimagined Son’s role in the team and why it is working for Spurs

Comment and Analysis @ghostgoal

Thursday 19 October 2023 07:37, UK

When Harry Kane departed for Bayern Munich, it was easy to assume that it would adversely impact Heung-Min Son. The two had combined to score more goals than any pair in Premier League history. Instead, Son has simply replaced his old partner.

He was the Premier League player of the month for September with six goals in his four appearances. Son has fired Ange Postecoglou's team to the top of the table, flourishing in an adjusted role. Indeed, it has been a new beginning for the South Korea international.

Last season proved an awkward one for Son. He had been hampered by injury. «It was a really disappointing season for me,» he said in the summer. «Physically, I was not able to play 100 per cent. I did not want to let people down, I wanted to keep going.»

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It had appeared as if Son was among those engulfed by the malaise surrounding Spurs and whether the turnaround is physical, mental, or both, he has seemed lifted by Postecoglou's arrival. It took him until April to score this many Premier League goals last season.

But this is about more than a mood change. Son's role in the team is different too. In this sense, Kane's exit came at an opportune moment in his own career. Son still has his pace but, at 31, he was ready to revert to a more central role within the team.

It feels a natural evolution for a player who, at 6'0", is physically robust