Tottenham Hotspur’s Heung-Min Son won the Premier League Player of the Month award for January, meaning he has more monthly gongs than any other player this season.
Tottenham’s Son Heung-min
Tottenham Hotspur forward Heung-Min Son has won the Premier League Player of the Month award for April – an achievement that sets him apart from everyone else in the division and that underlines his importance under Mauricio Pochettino.
Despite spending a chunk of the early season rotating with the club’s other attacking players, the South Korean star has become a vital part of Tottenham’s forward play, especially during a campaign that has seen Harry Kane twice suffer injuries that ruled him out for several games.
Son enjoyed a prolific April, scoring an impressive five times and assisting once to win the award, and in doing so he has become the only player in the league this season to net the monthly accolade on two occasions.
He now has 19 goals in all competitions and eight assists in 44 matches this season – a drastic upturn compared to last year, when he netted eight and assisted five in 42 games.
Son also won the monthly award in September, when he scored four and assisted one goal in just three games.
With such performances, there was a case to be made for the 25-year-old to be included in the discussion for team of the season – but there was little mention of Son during that debate.
A look at the statistics of the top five attacking midfielders emphasise why he deserved to be considered.
Top five attacking midfielder 2016/2017 season
| Position | Team | Goals | Total Scoring Att | Ontarget Scoring Att | Premier League Starts | Appearances | Mins Played | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dele Alli | MF | Tottenham | 17 | 84 | 36 | 32 | 34 | 2,790 |
| Eden Hazard | MF | Chelsea | 15 | 70 | 32 | 33 | 33 | 2,766 |
| Sadio Mané | MF | Liverpool | 13 | 57 | 24 | 26 | 27 | 2,240 |
| Son Heung-Min | MF | Tottenham | 12 | 69 | 27 | 20 | 31 | 1,828 |
| Philippe Coutinho | MF | Liverpool | 10 | 95 | 32 | 26 | 29 | 2,064 |
Son is just one goal behind Liverpool’s Sadio Mane – who made the season’s best side – despite playing fewer minutes than the Senegal international and the rest of the best attacking midfielders in the Premier League this year.
But it is the surprising stat that Son has started only 20 games in the Premier League this season that proves he is a key man at White Hart Lane – way less than the other players above. Though much of his impressive performances came as a substitute, in April most of his best football came having started from the off (four goals scored from his four starts out of six matches), proving he can also have an influence from the off.
And arguably proof that the Tottenham number seven is one of the best forward players in the league.
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