February 10th 2025.
Son Heung-Min has been having a tough season, only scoring six goals so far in the Premier League. Recently, former player Alan Shearer has called him out for his performance after Tottenham's loss to Aston Villa in the FA Cup.
It seems like things are just getting worse for Tottenham this season. Last week, they were knocked out of both domestic cup competitions, starting with a crushing 4-0 defeat against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final. And just this past Sunday, they suffered another loss at Villa Park, putting even more pressure on their manager, Ange Postecoglou.
Currently sitting at 14th place in the table, Tottenham's only remaining hope is in the Europa League. However, there are doubts about whether Postecoglou will make it through the season, with rumors of top-flight managers being considered to replace him.
Injuries have plagued Tottenham, forcing Postecoglou to rely on young and inexperienced players like Mikey Moore and Archie Gray. But according to Shearer, it's the more experienced players who are not performing up to par.
"It's the experienced ones that you're asking for a little bit more from," Shearer said on The Rest is Football podcast. "More from [Rodrigo] Bentancur, more from Dejan Kulusevski, more from Son the captain – he missed a sitter in the first-half."
Son had another missed opportunity against Aston Villa, adding to his lackluster season. But it's not just his performance that is concerning, it's also his lack of confidence.
"I was expecting them to come out in the first 10 or 15 minutes and give it a right good go," Shearer said, referring to Tottenham's game against Liverpool. "But it took till the second-half for them to do that, and that would be worrying for me."
Son was named captain after the departures of Hugo Lloris and Harry Kane in 2023, but he hasn't been able to live up to their legacy. Richards, a former Manchester City defender, believes that Son's lack of confidence is evident in his gameplay.
"Son's not really playing with the confidence we've seen of old, just taking so many touches," Richards said. "I was thinking to myself, 'he's surely not going to pass here'. Son of old would have taken a touch and bent that into the corner."
Shearer agreed, adding, "There's no way when he's scoring goals and full of confidence that he's even thinking of passing that."
Tottenham's next game is against Manchester United, and they will need to turn things around quickly. It's clear that they need to regain their confidence and start performing like the team they were in the past. Only time will tell if they can bounce back from their recent losses.
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