Tottenham skipper Son Heung-min expresses his disappointment after defeat to Arsenal
Tottenham Hotspur skipper Son Heung-min reiterated his boss Ange Postecoglou’s admission of the team being “too passive” in their 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in the North London Derby.
Arsenal looked up for the challenge and dominated Spurs for the opening 20 minutes, although they didn’t have a goal to show for it. The Lilywhites delivered a sucker punch in the 25th minute through Son Heung-min, who scored from outside the box albeit with a slight deflection off William Saliba.
However, they allowed Arsenal to quickly take charge of the contest as an own goal from Dominic Solanke and a Leandro Trossard strike before half time flipped the game on its head. The Gunners dominated the ball and could have scored more, with Tottenham restricted to just two shots on target on an unacceptable night at the Emirates Stadium.
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Ange Postecoglou cut a gloomy figure after the game, with his side now 13th in the Premier League table after 11 defeats. He made no excuses for his team, calling their display “not good enough” and admitting they didn’t meet expectations. Skipper Son also said on his gaffer’s lines, conceding he and his teammates did not do enough to win the game, despite his early goal against the run of play.
“Very disappointing. This game means a lot to the club and fans. Conceding goals like this is more painful,” Son told TNT Sports (h/t BBC Sport)
“The manager is right. We were too passive. We always want to press and play high up as possible. In the first half we were way too passive. Second half was a little better. The first half was not good enough.
“It’s up to the players as well. You have to listen to what we want to do. I think we were not disciplined enough.
“We have to do better in every aspect. When you look at table it’s not good enough.”
Son and his teammates have not been good enough for the majority of games this season. Tottenham were not ready for the fight in the North London derby on evidence of their performance, as Arsenal simply wanted it more on the night.
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The opener from Son did pump up the away pockets of the Emirates Stadium, and by half time, they had all gone quiet with Spurs squandering a lead for the umpteenth time this season. With the amount of chances the home side created, they should’ve been out of sight by the hour mark. Big Ange’s boys simply hung on, with the half-time introductions of James Maddison and Brennan Johnson bringing little or no improvement.
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Time is running out for Big Ange. Regardless of the injury situation with three of his first-choice back four still unavailable, the Australian has to turn around the club’s fortunes and that too quickly if he’s to stay at the helm.
