Heung-Min Son’s form: What’s going wrong for the Tottenham forward this season as he struggles for goals? | Football News

After four defeats in seven games, everyone at Tottenham is under scrutiny. But nobody epitomizes the team’s problems more than the Premier League’s golden boot champions. Heung-Min Son suffered the worst injury of his Spurs career.

He scored 23 league goals last season, but there is no hope for the ball. Son has just three goals in 15 Premier League appearances – and all of them came as a second-half substitute against Leicester. What went wrong for the popular Korean striker?

At age 30, there will be fears that he is slowing down, but perhaps the workload has caught up. There was a summer tour of South Korea and a World Cup qualifying run that saw him play in a face mask after a broken cheekbone. He has played a lot of football.

“This season, especially at the top, we have players,” Antonio Conte said earlier this season. “Rotation is good for the well-being of the team and the players.” However, injuries to Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski have left Son trying in vain to return to some form.

The only Premier League game in which he came off the bench was the only Premier League game in which he scored – and it was a hat-trick.

Only three strikers have started more Premier League matches since 2016. “Every player wants to play every game but you lose physical and mental energy,” Conte said. “Sometimes you don’t realize this and think you can play but your performance drops.”

The son is always seen below the best. In the 2-0 win away to Aston Villa on Sunday, he looked disbelieving, lacking belief in every aspect of the game. A poor touch here, over an overhit there, nothing seemed to work for him.

There was a good chance to play Harry Kane through on goal in the first half, but instead of a measured pass to slide in his teammate, the ball flew off his feet. Too much spin, too much loft, too much pace. Kane could only look back in frustration.

Even that partnership, statistically the most successful in the history of the Premier League, seems to be running low these days. It was up to Son to make the moves that Kane couldn’t. Perhaps their skillset will not match as the age of the two people.

But not only goals. Other elements cannot be used. During his Tottenham career, he has been a ball carrier as well as a goal supplier. But the numbers show that there is a decline in both areas of the game.

This is a player who is among the top dozen players in the Premier League for chances created from open play and dribbles completed since 2016. In both metrics, he is currently performing at the lowest level in seven seasons.

His lack of dribbling success can be considered a natural evolution at the age of 30 – it’s mostly a young boy’s game. But there is a theory that the drop in some of Putra’s other numbers can be partially explained by a change in tactics at Tottenham.

In addition to his hat-trick against Leicester, he scored twice in the Champions League win at home against Eintracht Frankfurt. He has just five goals for Spurs this season. One thing both matches have in common is that Ivan Perisic is not on the pitch.

Does the presence of Croatia not suit Putra? The attacking left wing-back takes up some of the space he likes. This leads to Putra coming into congested areas of the pitch or hanging back as Perisic advances.

This is a big change as Perisic is more advanced than the alternatives Spurs have in that role. He experienced twice as much in the opposition penalty box every 90 minutes compared to Sergio Reguilon, who was previously in the position.

There was a good example in the Villa defeat of how Perisic is now making the runs that Son once did. Spurs’ best chance came from Perisic’s run before setting up Kane. Son stood out wide. He had fewer touches in the box than before.

They all paint a bleak picture but they are not so black and white. Although many of the underlying numbers are down, they are not this far down. Putra’s dip in output can only be partly explained by other factors. In the end, the poor finishing itself was a big factor.

“I’m fine,” Son said when discussing his form in early September. “If I’m honest, if I don’t get a chance in a game, I’m worried but I still get a chance. In some games, there are moments where I’m not lucky.

He actually had more shots per 90 minutes than in the previous three seasons, although the quality of those chances was lower than before. The biggest difference is that Son has consistently exceeded his previous target.

His total of 23 goals last season came despite an anticipated return of 15.8 based on the quality of those chances. He took just 86 shots – the fewest by a golden boot winner for more than a decade. He exceeded his goal expectations for the sixth consecutive season.

Now, for the first time in his Tottenham career, it’s a finish that lets him down. A chance scuffed, try another skied. A player famous for being comfortable with one foot suddenly seems less confident on the other.

Some will blame Conte. Spurs can certainly be wider. But under Conte, Putra won the golden boot. His defensive approach had never bothered him before. Playing on the counter attack suits him. Maybe it shows a change in the game itself.

What is certain is that everything – from the workload to the tactics, from the evolution of the game to the lack of confidence – has combined to give us the worst version of Putra that anyone can imagine. Finding a way out of that will be key for him and the Spurs.