Player Watch Player Watch: Son Heung-min

[KirstyG]

I feel sad for him. I was critical this season of his performances and this goes some way to explaining why he was so off. The scary thing is even with a half firing Sonny we would have probably got Europe. I hope he recovers fully and can perform at his best again.

 

[Khilari]

Why continue to play if it hurts and your performances are poor? The sooner he fixed the issue the sooner he could get back to his former self. Just annoying to hear this stuff.

If “fixing” the issue was simple, I’m sure that would have been considered…

 

[rabbikeane]

It's more about the timing, this happens all the time.
Just look at Conte's statements that we depend on Son and Kane. Not willing to play anything else. Bryan was sitting there waiting for his opportunity.
It's such an unhealthy approach.

Players play their part as well, trying to fight through it.

Trippier said the same, he hasn't become better since he left, he just played with pain (in addition to manager demanding him to be something he isn't).

Chris Armstrong, fans turned hard on him, secretly playing through pain to help the club. Became bit of a joke figure when in reality it's not much between him and club legend Jermain Defoe.

 

[nidge]

But not the South Korean medical team? Considering they perform their own checks on each of their players, I find it interesting that you're quick to blame Spurs but somehow another medical team didn't catch what Spurs so obviously missed or overlooked.

Son stated he's been dealing with this pain for 8-9 month, he was with the Korean team in September 2022 for 2 friendlies ( played the full 90 minutes) , missed a Iceland game in November due to facial injury - featured in all 4 for South Korea's games in the WC playing the full 90 and even featured in another 2 friendlies earlier this year in March, playing the full 90 minutes as well.

It's almost as if Son consistently downplayed the severity of injury to ensure he played and very likely told both medical teams, who are used to players not being a full 100% fit, that it's a smaller issue than it really was.

Surely the medical teams would be able to tell (run tests to find out) how severe an injury is instead of just taking the word of the injured party?

 

[DJS]

Same kinda situation with Trippier during his last season with us.

He was struggling with a groin injury all season and his performances dipped.

Still such a shame we let him go.

 

[DiVaio]

Exactly. Our medical team are useless.

I mean it's pretty obvious it has nothing to do with medical team but manager/player still pushing to play. Happened with multiple Spurs players in last few years. Dier was playing with injury since World Cup or even earlier and only got surgery when Mason came

 

[EQP]

Surely the medical teams would be able to tell (run tests to find out) how severe an injury is instead of just taking the word of the injured party?

Yes and no. Big reason why they perform testing and measurements for limb length, adductor strength, flexibility, power output in vertical jumps etc during pre-season, is to have that baseline measure that they can use as a marker for the rest of the season. Add to that, the players have daily wellness checks and surveys asking how they slept, energy levels, any pain issues ( and in some cases hydration and saliva level checks ) to create that full spectrum profile on their health.

With that in mind, it's understood that players will not always be 100% fit for the full season and could actually see some acceptable decreases in those metrics, though any significant change in those metrics usually indicates a larger issue that needs to addressed. So it is a combined effort of objective testing ( adductor squeeze e.g.) and subjective tests/surveys ( how did you sleep, any pain issues e.g.) that give the physios the information they need to act.

In Son's case, it's very likely that he " passed " the objective testing and underplayed the actual pain he felt. It's the only thing that makes sense given that two medical teams passed him fit to play throughout the season. Remember, this is a player who is the face of a nation, who even when dealing with an orbital fracture, which could've blinded him, still came out and put out a statement that he would not be missing the World Cup.

Son HeungMin(손흥민)🇰🇷 on Instagram: "안녕하세요. 지난 한 주 동안 받은 응원과 격려의 메세지, 정말감사하다는 말씀을 드리고 싶습니다. 저는 많은분들께 응원과 격려의 메세지를 받았고 읽으면서 많은 힘을 얻었습니다. 월드컵에서 우리나라를 위해 뛰는 것은 많은 아이들이 축구선수로 성장하면서 꿈꾸는 일 일것입니다. 저 또한 그 꿈을 지금까지 변함없이 가지고 있습니다. 지난 2년여의 시간동안 여러분들이 참고 견디며 써오신 마스

2M likes, 21K comments - hm_son7 on November 9, 2022: "안녕하세요. 지난 한 주 동안 받은 응원과 격려의 메세지, 정말감사하다�..."

www.instagram.com

 

[fridgemagnet]

Does this make us signing Danjuma on loan now make a little more sense? Or am I danger of handing out unwarranted credit?

I totally believe Conte wanted CB's and wanted Zannilo and got neither but could it be there was a reason for taking a punt on Danjuma after all?

Perhaps there were talks of have Sonny get surgery and with our injury list he was the right body but for whatever reason the player/manager decided not to have it due to our poor squad depth that perhaps Richy's injuries would have left us short if Sonny had gone under the knife.

It also makes me wonder if Kulu has been playing injured and perhaps a few others got hooked on Cortisone injections and we got the drowsy stuff!

 

[allatsea]

Modern football's insistence on flogging players like horses is incredibly dangerous. Ruining their bodies, for what?

Money ?

 

[easley91]

Does this make us signing Danjuma on loan now make a little more sense? Or am I danger of handing out unwarranted credit?

I totally believe Conte wanted CB's and wanted Zannilo and got neither but could it be there was a reason for taking a punt on Danjuma after all?

Perhaps there were talks of have Sonny get surgery and with our injury list he was the right body but for whatever reason the player/manager decided not to have it due to our poor squad depth that perhaps Richy's injuries would have left us short if Sonny had gone under the knife.

It also makes me wonder if Kulu has been playing injured and perhaps a few others got hooked on Cortisone injections and we got the drowsy stuff!

It would have done if Son was actually rested for Danjuma.

 

[nidge]

Yes and no. Big reason why they perform testing and measurements for limb length, adductor strength, flexibility, power output in vertical jumps etc during pre-season, is to have that baseline measure that they can use as a marker for the rest of the season. Add to that, the players have daily wellness checks and surveys asking how they slept, energy levels, any pain issues ( and in some cases hydration and saliva level checks ) to create that full spectrum profile on their health. With that in mind, it's understood that players will not always be 100% fit for the full season and could actually see some acceptable decreases in those metrics, though any significant change in those metrics usually indicates a larger issue that needs to addressed. So it is a combined effort of objective testing ( adductor squeeze e.g.) and subjective tests/surveys ( how did you sleep, any pain issues e.g.) that give the physios the information they need to act.

In Son's case, it's very likely that he " passed " the objective testing and underplayed the actually pain he felt. It's the only thing that makes sense given that two medical teams passed him fit to play throughout the season. Remember, this is a player who is the face of a nation, who even when dealing with an orbital fracture, which could've blinded him, still came out and put out a statement that he would not be missing the World Cup.

Son HeungMin(손흥민)🇰🇷 on Instagram: "안녕하세요. 지난 한 주 동안 받은 응원과 격려의 메세지, 정말감사하다는 말씀을 드리고 싶습니다. 저는 많은분들께 응원과 격려의 메세지를 받았고 읽으면서 많은 힘을 얻었습니다. 월드컵에서 우리나라를 위해 뛰는 것은 많은 아이들이 축구선수로 성장하면서 꿈꾸는 일 일것입니다. 저 또한 그 꿈을 지금까지 변함없이 가지고 있습니다. 지난 2년여의 시간동안 여러분들이 참고 견디며 써오신 마스

2M likes, 21K comments - hm_son7 on November 9, 2022: "안녕하세요. 지난 한 주 동안 받은 응원과 격려의 메세지, 정말감사하다�..."

www.instagram.com

Absolutely cracking answer, thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

[Westmorlandspur]

I can understand Son keeping this quiet so that he could play in the World Cup . But after that, what is the problem. He was playing poorly and every now and again stick one in from 20 yds.
obviously Son would never let the team down but seems ridiculous to carry on like this.

 

[EQP]

Absolutely cracking answer, thanks for taking the time to respond.

My pleasure. Reason I'm so passionate about Sport medicine is that I worked in the industry for close to a decade and still have contacts here in the states and some littered about in Europe, who keep me updated with the happenings and changes in that world. Also, I'm really just tired of seeing the " Spurs medical team are useless " cliché bandied about by so many posters looking for an easy scapegoat to blame.

 

[Cheds]

Top marks to our medical team for that one and for him never being dropped!

And he still went to the World Cup when he could have been rested and had surgery then.

Beggars belief

 

[bomberH]

I thought he was having surgery but he’s on the bench for South Korea today. Didn’t he say last week that he needs surgery? If he’s waiting until after the internationals then that’s a pretty stupid thing to do (if that is the case).

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

I thought he was having surgery but he’s on the bench for South Korea today. Didn’t he say last week that he needs surgery? If he’s waiting until after the internationals then that’s a pretty stupid thing to do (if that is the case).

Apparently he has already had the surgery. Hopefully nothing to aggravate it by playing already.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Apparently he has already had the surgery. Hopefully nothing to aggravate it by playing already.

Which then begs the question, if it was such a simple procedure with such a short recovery time, why didn’t he just have it in season? I’m sure we could have found a Brazilian international or even a random loan signing to step in for a game or two.

 

[neogenisis]

Which then begs the question, if it was such a simple procedure with such a short recovery time, why didn’t he just have it in season? I’m sure we could have found a Brazilian international or even a random loan signing to step in for a game or two.

Something at Tottenham doesnt make sense shocker.

 

[Marty]

The Times & The Sunday Times

News and opinion from The Times & The Sunday Times

www.thetimes.co.uk

This is an excellent article on both the madness of players playing through niggling injuries in general and the possible consequences of that. Like when Cazorla nearly had to amputate his foot at 30 as a direct consequence of playing through injury for too long.

 

[cockerel downunder]

I’m curious to see how son fits in to Ange’s plans next season. I could see him doing well as a 9 as he’s not really snd Ange type winger, but if Kane snd richy both stay I think son would be on the wing and the system would probably need to be adapted from the one used at Celtic anyway if Kane stays.
Any thoughts?