Antonio Conte expects Son Heung-min to break his goalscoring duck soon but admits he won’t hesitate to drop the forward from his Tottenham XI if his form doesn’t improve.
After winning the Golden Boot last season with 22 Premier League strikes, Son is yet to get off the mark this term and has looked visibly short of the player who was terrifying defences earlier this year.
Spurs are next in action when they host Leicester in Saturday’s late kick off and Conte said he may be tempted to bring Son out of the team if form and fatigue dictate it.
He said: “I think Sonny, for sure, is not happy because he’s not scoring. He is a striker and in the last season he was the top scorer in the league.
“It’s normal and I like that he’s a bit angry about this situation because it means he wants to try to change it.
“It can happen, especially when you play massive games, you can be a bit tired. Mentally, also. For sure it can happen that in some games he can’t play from the start, like Harry also.
“But only to protect him, to give the possibility to rest, to take care of his energy and to bring us to win.
“On Saturday we need energy. We finished the game against Sporting with not a lot of energy and for this reason I am a bit upset.
“We lost a lot of energy and then we lost. Now I have another day to make the best decision. For sure I will make rotation on Saturday.
“When you score a lot of goals, the following season is more difficult because you are not an underdog. But when you don’t score, for sure the confidence goes a bit down.
“But at the same time, I think a strong player copes with this situation, faces it head on and overcomes this situation.”
Son was substituted against Sporting CP after another disappointing display, while strike partner Harry Kane was also off form.
Credit: 90min.com
