Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte argues for Son Heung-min’s rotation and player welfare starting on the bench against Leicester City in a Premier League match on Saturday, September 17.
Son Heung-min ends his goal drought with a hat-trick Tottenham beat Leicester City equal to 6-2 Manchester City on points.
Heung-min, who was the Premier League’s joint top scorer with 23 goals last season, failed to open his individual goal in Tottenham’s first eight matches. However, the South Korean, who started on the bench against Leicester City, came back in great style to complete the treble in just 13 minutes.
“I’m so happy for Sony today, you know what I think of the player,” Conte told Sky Sports. “I told him that if you’re going to score three goals in 30 minutes, maybe we can repeat this experiment, but I was kidding. I’m lucky, I have a good group of players who are really good. People are there. We have to start thinking differently if we’re going to take the next step.”
hat-trick
hero pic.twitter.com/l4EPsgSHW7— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 17, 2022
Conte explained the decision to start Heung-min on the bench, saying: “I was a player. Every player wants to play every game but you lose physical energy and mental energy.
“Sometimes you don’t understand it and think you can play but performance goes down. Rotation is good for the team and for player welfare. If you give energy and play the way you do son played, so everyone is happy.”
Rodrigo Bentancurt helped Tottenham regain their lead in the 47th minute before Son Heung-min stole the show. The South Koreans came in in the 59th minute and managed to reach the top right-foot corner in the 73rd minute. Heung-min scored with his left foot 11 minutes before completing his hat-trick.
“At some points I have to make important decisions. I want to bring this team to a better level of thinking, not to be in the middle,” Conte said.
“Don’t look like I’ll be at Tottenham because I’ll play every game. You won’t win anything important if you think like that. We’ve just started down this path with the club. Sonny will never have a problem. He’s an amazing player.” He’s one of the two best players on my team, along with Harry (Kane).”
— the ending —