Son Heung-min vows to bounce back stronger from goal drought

Jonathan Veal, PA
·2 min read
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Tottenham forward Son Heung-min is not concerned about his goalscoring drought at the start of the season.

The South Korean struck 12 goals in his final 14 games of last season to claim the Premier League Golden Boot alongside Mohamed Salah, but he has been unable to continue that form so far this season.

He has failed to find the back of the net in the opening seven games of the season and was again frustrated in Wednesday’s 2-0 Champions League win over Marseille.

Son Heung-min, right, and Harry Kane react after a missed chance against Marseille
Son Heung-min, right, and Harry Kane react after a missed chance against Marseille (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Son believes one goal could kick-start his campaign.

“I’m OK. If I’m honest, if I wasn’t getting chances in the game I would be worried but I’m still getting chances,” he said.

“In some games, there have been unlucky moments. In some games, it has been a bad finish. This is going to make me stronger.

“This is something I can see will be an improvement because I still have a lot of space for improvement.

“Most important is that we are doing well as a team. I’ll do everything the team needs.

“In some games I’m really frustrated because if I have some massive chances and the ball doesn’t go in. It makes me just laugh.

“But I am not worried about it because the team and the staff and all the fans are helping me.

“I think if I score one the confidence will be back and I hope I can go on and score more goals.”

The 30-year-old is one man who will enjoy the prospect of facing Manchester City on Saturday night as he has scored six goals in his last eight appearances against them.

He also assisted twice in last season’s 3-2 win at the Etihad Stadium and generally caused City nightmares with his pace on the break.

Son Heung-min, right, shoots at goal against Manchester City last season
Son, right, shoots at goal against Manchester City last season (Mike Egerton/PA)

But he says past performances count for nothing, especially as Spurs have 24 hours less recovery time than their hosts.

“Just because I have a good record against them doesn’t mean I’ll do something great or have magical moments,” he said.

“It doesn’t mean anything. Saturday is a massive game against one of the best teams in the world so we need to prepare for the game really well.

“I’ll do what the team needs. This is my aim. It will be a really difficult game and we are short of time to recover.

“It’s really important we recover well. Good sleep, good eating. We have to be ready for a big battle.”