Player Watch Player Watch: Son Heung-min

[C1w8]

Ok. I seem to remember at the 2002 WC the Asians going pretty berserk about Beckham and Beckham was a galactic for Real Madrid and an international model dating a spice girl so I’d argue Beckham was a bigger global brand than Son is.

If Beckham in 2002 had also been korean it wouldve been x100000 as big as whatever it is that youre referring to.

Beckham was a bigger international brand sure because more of the globe were "fans" but he didnt mean anything close to what Son means to korea.

 

[isaac94]

Anyone find his goal scoring record (38 in 114) for south Korea a bit underwhelming? You'd think considering he's the only true star forward in that region playing both friendlies and competitive matches for one of the top nations often against poor opposition he'd be filling his boots with 50, 60 goals at this point.

The all time record for them is 58 so still some ways to go

tbf the guy in first goalscorer Cha Bum-kun is a massive Korean legend as well (an even better player than sonny) voted greatest Asian player of all time by ESPN

 

[Flobadob]

I think some people don't really get what Sonny is to South Korea, much as we love him he is a national hero, a national icon, it beyond anything we can really fathom, it seems to me its like he's the nation's captain not just the football team. It's quite extraordinary. He is the quintessential role model.

I’d love to fully understand his fame there to be honest because I love everything good that happens to this guy. Everything good he receives in life he fully deserves, he is a tremendous person and player. South Korea are really lucky to have someone like him for everyone to look up to. Fingers crossed he comes back healthy.

 

[Gilzeanking]

I wince at every player watch post in the Internationals time. Romero Sarr both have worrying injuries now.

But no Sonny disaster...as yet.

 

[worcestersauce]

tbf the guy in first goalscorer Cha Bum-kun is a massive Korean legend as well (an even better player than sonny) voted greatest Asian player of all time by ESPN

By ESPN no less, Wow!

 

[ultimateloner]

I’d love to fully understand his fame there to be honest because I love everything good that happens to this guy. Everything good he receives in life he fully deserves, he is a tremendous person and player. South Korea are really lucky to have someone like him for everyone to look up to. Fingers crossed he comes back healthy.

I think his humanity and humility shine in contrast to some of the egos/rudeness/aggression that are more celebrated in the western coverage of this sport. For example compare him to Maguire. Not just what they do off the pitch, but what they say in interviews.

 

[Grey Fox]

He needs to remember who pays his wages and that he has responsibilities now as captain. To play 90 minutes carrying an injury is pure negligence

 

[philll]

his on the brink of a serious injury, needs to be handled with kid gloves

Which is exactly what our medical team has been doing for weeks, nurturing him and managing his minutes so carefully, only for him to play the full 90 of a meaningless international friendly in obvious pain. I get the national pride and all that but it's not like it's the fans' only chance to see him play on national soil and he's obviously still carrying this injury that our medical team have been so diligently monitoring. I expect they're tearing their hair out.

 

[isaac94]

By ESPN no less, Wow!

amongst other things, research Cha Bum-kun yourself, no need to be ignorant

 

[EighteenEightyTwo]

He’s much bigger , Beckham wasn’t in the same league culturally to the UK what Son is to South East Asia. He’s Pele , Michael Jordan level.

Maybe things have changed but when I went to Seoul in 2017 there was K-pop and baseball everywhere but very little football/Son stuff at all, which was a shame.

 

[IfiHadTheWings]

tbf the guy in first goalscorer Cha Bum-kun is a massive Korean legend as well (an even better player than sonny) voted greatest Asian player of all time by ESPN

Not having that, Sonny is the greatest Asian export to the game.

Not to say Cha Bum-Kun wasn't a fantastic footballer (before my time) but Sonny has lit up the premier league (in arguably its most competitive time) and champions league.

 

[neogenisis]

Watching that, some of those finishes are just incredible. My fave part though is where Ndombele assist Son and Clive Allen commentates saying *Great run from Indombelly* hahaha made me *belly* laugh.

 

[mark87]

Already scored half the goals he got in the whole of last season.

 

[bubble07]

It was a great finish. But for him it's a standard finish

 

[BorjeSpurs]

Had a conversation with a Spurs fan about how Son and Kane have combined for the most goals in PL history, but also that Son has always stepped up when Kane has been out of the team. Well, after his three goals at the weekend, I decided to spend a bit of time to find out exactly how good Son has been in Kane's absence over the years.

Son has started 65 Spurs games without Kane (34 in PL, 15 in Europe and 16 in the domestic cups). He's been playing as the number 9, but also on the wing when players such as Richarlison, LLorente, Janssen, etc has played up top. I have also included games where Kane have been forced off early due to injury.

Here is the breakdown in terms of goal contributions:
15/16 Total - 7 Matches, 4 goals, 2 assists.
16/17 Total - 14 Matches, 13 goals, 3 assists.
17/18 Total - 10 Matches, 6 goals, 2 assists.
18/19 Total - 13 Matches, 10 goals, 2 assists.
19/20 Total - 9 Matches, 6 goals, 1 assist.
20/21 Total - 5 Matches, 3 goals, 0 assists.
21/22 Total - 2 Matches, 1 goal, 0 assists.
22/23 Total - 1 Match, 2 goals, 0 assists.
23/24 Total - 4 Matches, 3 goals, 0 assists.

Grand Total - 65 Matches, 48 Goals, 10 assists - 0.89 G/A per game.

I suspected the numbers to be good, but the results are quite remarkable. With a new manager that suits his playing style, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic that he can have a really good season.

Let's just say his stats hasn't got worse since above post.

 

[Wig]

Surprised that his thread hasn't had more comments after last night. Aside from a very well taken goal and assist, what stood out for me most was his pressing from the front... he made countless full sprints to press the defence and goalkeeper.

He's really stepped up as captain and leading by example on and off the ball.

 

[muppetman]

Surprised that his thread hasn't had more comments after last night. Aside from a very well taken goal and assist, what stood out for me most was his pressing from the front... he made countless full sprints to press the defence and goalkeeper.

He's really stepped up as captain and leading by example on and off the ball.

Absolutely, especially for someone who was supposed to be a bit knackered after the internationals!

 

[punkisback]

Surprised that his thread hasn't had more comments after last night. Aside from a very well taken goal and assist, what stood out for me most was his pressing from the front... he made countless full sprints to press the defence and goalkeeper.

He's really stepped up as captain and leading by example on and off the ball.

His pressing was immense would like to see his sprinting stats.

 

[RuskyM]

We are so lucky to have him. Legend.

 

[SpursSince1980]

That 9 role seems perfect for him.