A Valentine to Son Heung-min - the Tottenham forward who radiates joy
Gaze upon the bliss of Tottenham’s Son Heung-min whenever he scores a goal, the irrepressible smile of a player whose connection with the spontaneous joy felt as a child has not been jaded by repetition or professional detachment, and it is not difficult to understand why he has started to become so widely appreciated.
A goal for him is not a moment of enraged vindication or milky consolation, he is never blasé or bashful - each one is a genuinely thrilling wonder that he conveys with infectious, sincere delight.
It was evident again on Wednesday night when he scored his 63rd goal in his 172nd appearance for Spurs, a velvety-cushioned, side-foot volley from Jan Vertonghen’s outstanding cross. He may have been so ecstatic that he subsequently felt moved to apologise to Vertonghen for peeling away to the right to celebrate with Serge Aurier instead of acknowledging the creator, but there was nothing contrived about his reaction. There never is, whether or not the beaming smile precedes a flourish, usually ‘the aeroplane’ or the knee slide.
It took a season, or more pertinently a full pre-season, for Son after joining Tottenham in August 2015 first to achieve the kind of recognition that he deserves during these increasingly frequent hot streaks.
He played most of his first season on the right but failed to complete 90 minutes in 30 games all but once. Pochettino’s system demands more than exceptional stamina, it requires the appetite and ability to keep pressing, to make the movements to give the ball carrier at least two forward options in a triangle and to persevere with explosive sprints to make space for yourself or a team-mate.
By September 2016, with a remorselessly tough Pochettino summer under his belt, Son was Premier League player of the month for scoring twice against Stoke and Middlesbrough and his man-of-the-match performance against Sunderland when he set up five chances and got off seven shots. In April he scored five times in four games to win the award again.
During his early days at Hamburg, Son spoke about the Premier League with Rafael van der Vaart when he moved from Tottenham in 2012 and badgered him for information and advice. His natural qualities - two-footedness, pace, the kind of dedication and mental discipline often found in sons of footballers who follow their father’s career path - marked him out as an asset in his early years in the Bundesliga. Yet what makes him so special during these rich veins of form is his sharpness in the turn, the capacity not simply to zig-zag but to switch through 180 degrees almost at full pelt to lose a marker.
The intelligence of his penetrative, off-the-ball running, judging when to trigger the sprint and the shape of them, bending them artfully away from defenders, that brings the best out of Christian Eriksen’s long and mid-range passing. Earlier in the season when Harry Kane was fit, the England centre-forward kept dropping off to collect the ball in midfield and it was the running of Son and Dele Alli in front of him, pulling away on opposite diagonals that opened up defences, giving Kane space and targets for passes. The modern game is as much about stretching defenders and systems to breaking point as beating them. Son’s bursts are integral to how Tottenham do this.
Like all Tottenham players, Son has to be industrious and tackle back. Pochettino insists on fluidity and versatility and Son’s adroitness on the left, through the middle and on the right, even as a No10, is ideal. He brings a jaunty tenacity to all these roles, puts the hurt into full-backs’ legs out wide and has a rare elusiveness in the box that enables him to ghost into threatening positions. He can shoot with blistering power and has improved his touch strikingly since his first year at White Hart Lane.
He is far from flawless. He is not as self-effacing as his post-match politeness would suggest, occasionally snatching at shots when others are better placed and Harry Maguire would argue that he hits the grass too readily. His balance and control, usually good, are not impeccable but he does not shrink from trying again if he jags too quickly to give a defender the slip and ends up on his backside or drags a shot. Robert the Bruce’s spider has no lesson to teach him.
One would think he would be ideal as a substitute, given his speed and athletic prowess, but he sometimes struggles to find the tempo and plays better as a starter. Son can appear to be one of those players who perform at the very limit of their capabilities, like an engine at full throttle, which always make them endearing and irresistible. More than anything, though, for 'Sonny' with the sunny disposition, he is a player who is palpably enjoying each moment.
