Tottenham Hotspur head coach Antonio Conte has told Football.London that he could drop Son Heung-min.
Conte has said that no player in his Tottenham is guaranteed a place in the starting lineup.
The Tottenham boss made the comments when asked if he could drop Son.
The £192,000-a-week (SalarySport) South Korea international forward has struggled so far this season.
Son has given one assist in six Premier League matches and has played twice in the UEFA Champions League for Tottenham so far this season.
Antonio Conte on Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min
Conte said when asked if Son is undroppable: “There are no players that are undroppable. This has to be very clear. There are no players that are undroppable.
“Because if I tell this, it’s only to try to help my players and to try to avoid injuries, to try to have players at the top of their form and to have a good performance. If I am telling this it is only to protect my players and to give them the possibility to be, in every moment, at the top.
“Then you know very well you can play one game well, another you can score, another not, but my task is to try to protect my players and to protect the team. Also to find the right way to have a result.
“Don’t forgot sometimes when you don’t start with certain players, it means during the game you have this player with the possibility to use him during the game.
“But I repeat if we want to play this four competitions and especially I repeat the Champions League because it is different to play Europa League or Conference League.
“Europa League and Conference League can give you the possibility in the group stages to make rotations and then also if you drop a bit the quality of the starting XI, maybe you can win the game.
“In the Champions League they are always massive games and for this reason I need to have all my players available. I need all my players available for rotation to be in every moment ready when I call them to play and to play well for the team, for the club, for the fans, for everybody.”
Could Son be dropped?
In our view, if Son Heung-min’s performances do not improve soon, then the South Korea international forward could be dropped.
Yes, Son has been an important source of goals for Tottenham over the years, but Conte has very good options now.
Tottenham signed Richarlison from Everton in the summer transfer window, and the Brazil international forward has already been among the goals.
We think that Son should be given two or three more games to get back to form.
If he does not, then Conte should drop him.
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