Son thrived on responsibility against Preston, says Stellini
Tottenham assistant coach Cristian Stellini believes Son Heung-min thrived on the extra responsibility he was given in Harry Kane’s absence on Saturday night as his secondhalf brace powered Spurs to a 3-0 FA Cup win at Preston.
Record-chasing Kane was kept in reserve on the bench after suffering with illness in the days since he moved level with Spurs great Jimmy Greaves on 266 goals for the club.
With Richarlison also missing out at Deepdale due to an adductor problem, it fell to Son to lead the line alongside Dejan Kulusevski and Ivan Perisic.
The Korean answered the call with two fine goals in the second half before the onloan Arnaut Danjuma marked his debut with a late third off the bench.
Son has struggled for goals this season, certainly compared to the standards he set by netting 24 last term.
His brace here took him to eight for the season but he had only one since October coming into the night, and had only scored in three of his 30 appearances, five of his goals coming in two games.
“He’s a top player, he only has to wait for the right moment and to feel comfortable, to find the space to attack and to play one v one often,” Stellini said. “This evening it was a good game from him.
“I think you can feel (a response to Kane’s absence) from Sonny.
"Without Harry he was the most important striker for us and we play with (Ivan) Perisic not in his perfect position so for Sonny it was important to find a way to score and to let the team win.”
Antonio Conte, who sat his players down last week and demanded a change in mentality, made seven changes to face a side 26 places below them in the pyramid, but although they had to wait until
the second half to break down Preston’s stubborn resistance they got the result they needed.
“We spoke a lot about changing the mentality, and what that means for us is it’s
really important who didn’t play the last games, that we make changes and the result is the same,” Stellini added.
“For Antonio, it’s very important to have a squad and every player has to play to the same level and nothing changes if we make changes to the side.
"This is a good point to start from as we have a tough schedule with a lot of games to play.”