Ange Postecoglou believes Son Heung-min’s commitment to South Korea should be commended, even if it has the potential to hamper his availability for Tottenham.
Son has been struggling with a groin injury for several weeks but still insisted on captaining his national team against Vietnam in midweek, scoring and assisting in a 6-0 win.
Many club managers would find the situation frustrating but former Australia boss Postecoglou thinks differently, pointing out that Son’s selfless attitude is one of the reasons why he has enjoyed such a stellar career.
Speaking ahead of Spurs’ home game with Fulham tonight, Postecoglou told the Evening Standard: “Sonny is who he is and he’s got to where he is because of the person he is and I’m certainly not going to change any part of that.
“Sometimes we want to change people but we don’t understand that the thing that has brought them to where they are is because of the people they are. So I’m not changing anything in Sonny. If anything you can learn from people like that.
“That’s the beauty of me being in the position I am; you come across different people every time you go on this kind of journey and you learn from all of them.
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“The way he takes on the responsibility of not just his whole nation, and he takes it very seriously, I think it’s commendable. Beyond commendable. It’s great.
“We’ve seen players who go the other way with fame and fortune and kind of lose their way a bit.
“But Sonny’s still very, very grounded. He knows what’s important to him and that’s his country, his football club, his career.”
Spurs will move two points clear at the Premier League summit with victory over Marco Silva’s men and Postecoglou is likely to have summer signing Brennan Johnson available with the former Nottingham Forest man having recovered from a hamstring strain.
Yves Bissouma is suspended with Denmark midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg expected to deputise.
