Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou call backfires as Son Heung-min slammed
Ange Postecoglou call backfires in Tottenham loss v Wolves as Son Heung-min slammed
Ange Postecoglou handed Son Heung-min a first start of 2024, but it was a decision that backfired as Tottenham lost 2-1 to Wolves.
Spurs were second best on Saturday (17 February) as their five-game winning Premier League run at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was ended.
Joao Gomes scored a couple of goals, either side of Dejan Kulusevski’s temporary equaliser, on a disappointing afternoon for Tottenham.
Son in particular struggled, managing just 56 touches despite being used as the focal point through the middle in the final quarter of the game [Sofascore].
Son Heung-min has an off-day for Tottenham
The versatile forward also misplaced nine of his 47 passes for an underwhelming 81-per-cent pass accuracy return.
To put that into some perspective, no Spurs player to have played the full 90 minutes registered a worse figure.
Son failed to register a single shot, meanwhile, despite Tottenham chasing a goal for most of the game.
He also managed just one key pass, which is down on his season average of 1.8, showing he was off his usual levels [WhoScored].
Away from the attacking side of the game, Son also could have done far more to keep out Gomes’ opening goal for Wolves in the first half.
The South Korea international failed to cut out a delivery into the box, which was highlighted by Perry Groves on talkSPORT’s coverage.
“Son Heung-min has actually ducked away from the ball – he should be the one attacking it,” Groves said [17 February, 3:45pm.
“You can’t have a player free there. It’s really bad play from Tottenham, Son in particular.”
Richarlison also struggles against Wolves
Son was not alone in having an off-day, as Richarlison failed to find the target from any of his three attempts.
The Brazilian had an expected goals (xG) return of 0.43 – only Bentancur had a higher figure (0.47) – but he was incredibly wayward up top.
Dejan Kulusevski was on the scoresheet for Tottenham against Wolves
Richarlison also failed to register a single dribble across his 71 minutes on the field and won only two out of five aerial duels.
Spurs have scored in 37 successive Premier League games [Opta] – only Arsenal (55) have ever gone on a longer run – but one goal was not enough.
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