Shaka Hislop says there is ‘absolutely no reason’ for Antonio Conte to bench the out-of-form, Son Heung-min, for Tottenham Hotspur ahead of their Champions League tie against Sporting Lisbon, as he told ESPN.
After winning the Golden Boot last term, Son is yet to score a single goal for Spurs this season and former West Ham goalkeeper Hislop thinks ‘it’s just a matter of time’ with the player.
The issue facing Son is that, whilst he tries to find his goalscoring touch again, the likes of Richarlison and Dejan Kulusesvki are flying.
It could be argued that, ahead of Tottenham’s trip to Portugal on Tuesday for their second Champions League game of the group stages, Harry Kane should have Kulusevski and Richarlison either side of him.
But Son clearly has enough credit in the bank and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him start again, especially given there was no football at the weekend, so those playing in Europe have had a rest.
Nonetheless, Hislop made it clear that once Son gets his engine going, then normal service will resume, as he doesn’t see a reason to drop him to the bench.
“I don’t see the reason to (bench Son),” said Hislop. “The old cliche, especially around goalscorers is ‘it’s just a matter of time and they want to get one, then it opens the floodgates’.
“I expect the same to be with Son Heung-min. I see absolutely no reason to leave him out.”
COMPETITON NEEDED
This is what Conte would have wanted – a selection headache when trying to pick from his forward areas.
On one hand, he has a proven performer in Son, who he knows will be back to his best very soon, but the £22 million player is being pushed by those behind him (Guardian).
If other areas of the pitch can become this competitive, then it allows Conte to rotate freely, which is going to be needed given the number of midweek games they will play leading up to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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