Son Heung-Min

[Jurgen the German]

The goals scored column shows how good he has been

But he was so poor midweek and poor again

Doesn’t take away from his goal which is ultimately a huge part of his job. He is generally a top top finisher.

But some of his decision making and lack of ability to retain the ball lately has really stopped our play dead

I’m hoping he will find the Asian comp easier and can recover a bit

I agree to an extent but still head and shoulders our best forward this season. We could do with an additional body in the forward position to really push the others and create competition but the priority area needs to be at least one CB, hopefully two.

 

[Yiddo]

yeah just the 17 goals and assists combined this season. Only Salah and Haaland have more goal involvements in the league this season. Really need him to be on his bike to the Asian cup so we can replace him with someone better.

Them stats may seem good on paper but the games he has been brick in are the ones we have needed him the most. Its always easy to look at stats than actually look at the performance. A game is played over 90 minutes not just when a player scores, its 2023 scoring a goal is not job done anymore.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Them stats may seem good on paper but the games he has been brick in are the ones we have needed him the most. Its always easy to look at stats than actually look at the performance. A game is played over 90 minutes not just when a player scores, its 2023 scoring a goal is not job done anymore.

5 assists too plus dozens of chances created for richarlison which he more often than not misses. Which forwards in the PL do you think are better just out of interest? I’d rather have a forward like Son who scores goals, creates and on the whole is a great asset to the team rather than someone like Jesus who scores about 8 goals a season and is woeful in front in goal even when he plays well.

 

[Yiddo]

5 assists too plus dozens of chances created for richarlison which he more often than not misses. Which forwards in the PL do you think are better just out of interest? I’d rather have a forward like Son who scores goals, creates and on the whole is a great asset to the team rather than someone like Jesus who scores about 8 goals a season and is woeful in front in goal even when he plays well.

I could name a list of players who i think are overall more effective than Son. I’m not saying he is not a good goalscorer i just think the rest of his game is very limited. When he is no on fire he is bang average to the point he cannot control a ball or pass.

 

[Jurgen the German]

I could name a list of players who i think are overall more effective than Son. I’m not saying he is not a good goalscorer i just think the rest of his game is very limited. When he is no on fire he is bang average to the point he cannot control a ball or pass.

Why do you always deliberately ignore his assists when you say he’s not effective other than goals? Have you seen how average Saka and Martinelli can be for Arsenal when they are off form? Every player has bouts of bad form. Son scores goals more often than not even if he’s having a bad game and he is ultimately paid to score and create which he does more than just about every other forward in the league other than Salah and Haaland so I’d be curious to know who these other forwards are who are better?

 

[Robbo]

When he finally shot - he scored. Shoot more, Sonny!

 

[Gazza Dazzla]

He’s just gone in to his slump, hopefully he gets it out of the system in Jan and comes back the Son we love most of the time.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I agree to an extent but still head and shoulders our best forward this season. We could do with an additional body in the forward position to really push the others and create competition but the priority area needs to be at least one CB, hopefully two.

We could do with someone to rotate with son too
He looks knackered and is carrying the mental challenge of being captain too

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I could name a list of players who i think are overall more effective than Son. I’m not saying he is not a good goalscorer i just think the rest of his game is very limited. When he is no on fire he is bang average to the point he cannot control a ball or pass.

I’d like to see that list?

He is elite even with flaws

 

[spurspinter1]

5 assists too plus dozens of chances created for richarlison which he more often than not misses. Which forwards in the PL do you think are better just out of interest? I’d rather have a forward like Son who scores goals, creates and on the whole is a great asset to the team rather than someone like Jesus who scores about 8 goals a season and is woeful in front in goal even when he plays well.

Woah now why is Richarlison catching strays in the Son thread after a really solid game from him including a decent goal?! Like Yiddo with his anti Son thing it seems like everyone has to pick a player to be down about regardless of how well they're doing considering the bigger picture.

I was talking about Son pre game never being dropped but there is that thing where no matter how bad he's playing he can just get a goal out of nowhere. He was dogbrick today but if Richy had scored his chance (which he admittedly should have done) it'd be a goal and an assist. The one where Son had an open space between him and the keeper and just delayed until closed down for a game shot was nuts as well, plenty of time to either put in Johnson or finish with a bit of confidence but did neither. It was a terrific finish for the goal though. It's interesting that he doesn't seem to want to cut in and shoot from outside of the box, it's got to be an instruction because we know he can bang them in from that kind of position...

Towards the end he just has nothing left in the tank, with respect to the Asian cup hopefully he'll be playing against weaker teams than in the PL and be able to rest a bit through the games. The guy loves playing for his country and I doubt he'll want to take it easy.

 

[Yiddo]

Why do you always deliberately ignore his assists when you say he’s not effective other than goals? Have you seen how average Saka and Martinelli can be for Arsenal when they are off form? Every player has bouts of bad form. Son scores goals more often than not even if he’s having a bad game and he is ultimately paid to score and create which he does more than just about every other forward in the league other than Salah and Haaland so I’d be curious to know who these other forwards are who are better?

As i have said, the game is played over 90 minutes, people go to stats to back up their arguments but they never ever tell the full story. Why do you stats people never look at the bigger picture? I can name a list but will automatically be shot down by stats so its pointless. Son is mediocre when not in form and this is all i have been saying for years but no one can admit it even though they all say the same thing in match threads. Scoring a goal or getting an assist in a match where you play brick doesn’t make up for the other 85 minutes of mediocrity in my opinion.

 

[Jurgen the German]

As i have said, the game is played over 90 minutes, people go to stats to back up their arguments but they never ever tell the full story. Why do you stats people never look at the bigger picture? I can name a list but will automatically be shot down by stats so its pointless. Son is mediocre when not in form and this is all i have been saying for years but no one can admit it even though they all say the same thing in match threads. Scoring a goal or getting an assist in a match where you play brick doesn’t make up for the other 85 minutes of mediocrity in my opinion.

Because forwards are ultimately judged on goals and assists. Opinions are subjective, stats aren’t. And the stats back up Son that he is one of the best forwards in the PL and has been for a number of years. No one disputes he has bad games and plays badly in spells but would you rather we signed a forward akin to Gabriel Jesus who plays a 6-8 out of 10 every week but scores 6 goals a season and costs his team by missing guilt edged chances? He’s arguably the biggest reason they didn’t win the title last season. Goalscorers win games. Even the best forwards in the world have periods where they are terrible. Are you saying we shouldn’t use stats to judge forwards? What other method should we use to judge players over the course of a season. You say there are more effective forwards but you won’t say who or how they are more effective as goals and assists are apparently meaningless.

 

[SteveAWOL]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1741785767796527232

https://x.com/i/web/status/1741485529160372323

 

[Bullet]

I believe Son has scored about 6 more goals than his xG would suggest.
I believe Darwin has scored about 6 fewer goals than his xG would suggest.

Does someone have a handy list?

 

[SteveAWOL]

I believe Son has scored about 6 more goals than his xG would suggest.
I believe Darwin has scored about 6 fewer goals than his xG would suggest.

Does someone have a handy list?

FWIW this site has Son exceeding his xG by 4.53

Son Heung-Min | Tottenham | xG | Shot Map | Goal stats | Understat.com

Son Heung-Min football stats. xG, shot map, match history. Minutes, goals and assits by club, position, situation.

understat.com

with Nunez scoring 6.13 below his xG this season

Darwin Núñez | Liverpool | xG | Shot Map | Goal stats | Understat.com

Darwin Núñez football stats. xG, shot map, match history. Minutes, goals and assits by club, position, situation.

understat.com

 

[Lilbaz]

I get he can be poor in some games. But games are decided by goals. Which he is up there with the best in the world, contibution wise.

Didn't he have the best shooting rate in europe?

Also we probably have more supporters in korea than england.

 

[Raziel]

Very important player for us, we will miss him when off for cup. As others have pointed out, numbers don't lie

Goal killed the game off (classic Son finish from very low xG chance), but similar to previous couple of games, got into good positions earlier in game and seemed "indecisive". Some combination of form, trying to bring others into the game (instead of being selfish) and potentially carrying a knock/fatigue (he looks absolutely knackered at the end of games, don't always see it on tv)

Like everyone else in the team that is just getting it done, I'll judge his performance when we actually have a fit squad around him and he isn't having to defensively cover as much and/or drop as much to help create.

 

[Jurgen the German]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1741785767796527232

https://x.com/i/web/status/1741485529160372323

Can’t wait till he goes to the Asian cup and we get some proper forwards who can control a ball.

 

[Jurgen the German]

I get he can be poor in some games. But games are decided by goals. Which he is up there with the best in the world, contibution wise.

Didn't he have the best shooting rate in europe?

Also we probably have more supporters in korea than england.

Yep. No one is denying he can be poor at times but his overall contribution far outweighs his bad spells. I swear some fans would rather have Jesus or Nunez who may be very good players but are completely hopeless in front of goal and cost their teams with the chances they miss. Arsenal would probably be top if they had Son instead of Jesus. Liverpool would have more points if you replace Darwin Nunez with Son.

 

[Raziel]

Yep. No one is denying he can be poor at times but his overall contribution far outweighs his bad spells. I swear some fans would rather have Jesus or Nunez who may be very good players but are completely hopeless in front of goal and cost their teams with the chances they miss. Arsenal would probably be top if they had Son instead of Jesus. Liverpool would have more points if you replace Darwin Nunez with Son.

Son for Jesus/Martinelli, Nunez/Diaz, Grealish/Foden would make any of those teams instantly better.

I've always said, as good as Pep is, really don't understand how when they were first looking at Harry, it wasn't Son they went for?