After struggling last season, Son Heung-min (Tottenham) is gritting his teeth ahead of the new campaign.
Tottenham will host West Ham United (England) in Perth, Australia, on Aug. 18 at 8 p.m. ET for their first preseason practice match.
Spurs held a pre-match press conference at the WACA Grounds in Perth, Australia on Sunday, with Son Heung-min representing the squad.
Heung-min joined the squad last month for the A-League matches in Korea and has been resting and working out in Korea. He then quietly traveled to Australia on the morning of the 14th to begin preparations for the new season.
Son struggled to find his form last season due to a combination of injuries, including a sports hernia and an orbital fracture. He scored 10 goals in the English Premier League (EPL), his seventh consecutive double-digit goal season, but it was a far cry from his 2021-22 campaign, when he was the league’s top scorer with 23 goals.
“Last season’s performance was not the Heung-min I knew,” he said. “This season, I want to prove the Heung-min everyone knows, not only to myself, but also to the Tottenham organization.”
The key to Son’s resurgence will be harmonizing with new coach Enze Postecoglou.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Son, who will be coached by Postecoglou for the first time this season. I was very happy when he was appointed,” he said, “I know what he has done in Scotland (Celtic). I’m also looking forward to the attacking style of football that we saw at the 2015 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup.”
Postecoglou led the Socceroos to a 2-1 victory over South Korea in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup final.
In 2018, he was named head coach of Yokohama F.Marinos (Japan) before taking over at Celtic in 2021. In his two seasons at Celtic, Postecoglou won five trophies. In the 2022-23 season, he won the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup, and all domestic titles.
Meanwhile, Son Heung-min was adamant about a move to Saudi Arabia, which was briefly rumored in the preseason.
“Saudi Arabia is definitely an interesting place to play. But I’m enjoying playing in the EPL, and I still have a lot of work to do,” he said, 토토사이트 reiterating his focus on Tottenham.