Spurs 5-1 Stoke City: Son inspires Spurs to emphatic victory!

Any return of the Wembley curse was swept away today, as Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs side overcame Stoke City with a sparkling display, to end there winless run of 6 league games. The first half at the national stadium was a fine performance from the lilywhites, though they lacked a cutting edge in the final third, Spurs led 1-0 at the interval courtesy of an own goal from Stoke’s captain Ryan Shawcross, following a cross from Son Heung-Min. Stoke did have their chances in the first half, various openings were created by Shaqiri though Dier and Vertonghen dealt well with the potters attacking threat. Spurs started the second half in emphatic fashion, they looked rejuvenated refreshed even. They were sharper in their passing more decisive in their play, and most importantly of all more clinical. A goalscoring rout ensued against a helpless Stoke side, courtesy of goals from Son, a brace from Harry Kane and a much needed goal from Christian Eriksen. The quality of play in the second half was second to none, the sheer energy and movement made by us was unstoppable. However, in this piece I’m going to focus on the most influential player on the pitch the terrific Son.

Son has been in excellent form over recent games he has been sharp, energetic and creative. And he showed all of those qualities against Stoke today, he was different class. He played a big part in four of our goals, his off the ball movement and ability to make promising runs gave us a different option throughout the game. Son looked fitter than any other player on the pitch, playing on the left wing he caused problems for Pieters with his searing pace and tendency to whip good crosses into the box. His positioning and awareness were both top notch, he got in to space made decisive decisions and ran at the potters defence. His goal was well taken and proved to be a decisive moment in the game, but it’s not just today where he’s been the difference. It’s been on countless occasions since he joined Spurs in the summer of 2015, where he has provided the spark in games lacking in quality, especially in the final third. Following his contribution to this afternoons game, the South Korean international has now been directly involved in 11 of Spurs’ goals this campaign. When you bear in mind the fact that he had no pre season (due to injury) as well as the fact that he had been given few starts towards the beginning of the season, it doesn’t make mean reading at all. His goal to game ratio is also one of the best in the side, but it’s Son or ‘Sonny’ as he is affectionately known who consistently provides energy to a team so lacking in pace.

He is now a player in his prime, one with consistency and end product to his game. His performance against Stoke today underlines just how pivotal a player he is to Spurs’ future success and with a busy schedule over the festive period, he could prove to be our most important player. COYS

There was an interesting article in today’s match day programme, the discussion panel which is a regular series, was all about Son. Academy starlet Samuel Shashoua had some particularly interesting things to say on him and his style of play, he sums the Spurs star up perfectly. The article features on pages 31 and 32: “Sonny offers you something different because he can play combination football but at the same time he can beat his man one-v-one either side because of how good he is on both feet. He can do a little trick or play a one-two, so that’s his main way of getting in against a deep block – he looks for little combinations, looks to try to beat his man, so he’s important and he adds another dimension. There are not many players in world football at the moment who can finish as well off both feet, so that’s a big plus for him and for the team.”

Statistics: Senior: goal scorers: Alli-6
Davies-2
Kane-18
Eriksen-5
Son-7
Sissoko-2
Llorente-1
Nkoudou-1

Assists: Eriksen-4
Trippier-7
Davies-3
Kane-4
Alli-6
Alderweireld-1
Sissoko-1
Son-4
Dier-1
Lamela-1
Llorente-1