This morning, Tottenham Hotspur announced that Son Heung-Min fractured his arm in the game against Villa at the weekend – during which he scored two goals, including a very late winner.
Son Heung-Min injury leaves Tottenham in dire straits
Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho this morning said the situation “couldn’t be worse” and confirmed that the South Korean is likely to miss the rest of the season. I wonder how pi**ed off he is that they didn’t bring a striker in right about now…
The statement released by the club on the injury this morning mentioned Spurs are to be without Son Heung-Min for a “number of weeks”. Jose Mourinho told media that it was perhaps a little too optimistic.
“If he plays two or three games then it’s because he [Tottenham’s press officer] is very optimistic, and I hope he is right,” said Mourinho. “But, in my mind, I’m not thinking about that.
“We are going to miss him. The club wrote a nice statement. If I was the one to write the statement, I would write different.”
Given that Spurs are currently already without England skipper Harry Kane, the addition of Son Heung-Min to the injury list is a serious concern and leaves Mourinho with just one fit senior striker in Lucas Moura.
He has called upon the clubs support to rally behind the club in a very tough situation.
“The situation couldn’t be worse. That is obvious,” added the Portuguese. “There is nothing we can do. We are going to play with the players we have available.
“I was worried about not having attacking options on the bench, now I don’t have attacking options on the pitch. My thoughts are that Troy Parrott is not ready and Ryan Sessegnon is not a striker.
“No strikers, no market. Nothing. The only help we can have is our crowd, the Tottenham supporters. That is the only thing I ask because to the players I cannot ask more than what they are giving.”
Injury to Son Heung-Min highlights the clubs drastic failures in January
In January, Spurs were linked with just about every striker under the sun as a potential short-term replacement for the laid up Harry Kane. Mourinho, and everybody else, knew that a failure to find one would leave options from the bench severely limited.
If either Son Heung-Min or Lucas Moura were to pick up an injury, Spurs would be in trouble. Guess what, Sod’s Law strikes once more and now Spurs are paying for their errors.
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The January transfer window is renowned for being difficult to fund talented players to sign – especially strikers. It seemed just about most of the Premier League drastically needed a new forward this year, including half of the top six, and the best anyone could do was Odion Ighalo.
Players always cost more money in January for the simple fact that teams do not want to lose their best players half-way through a season. Given the magnitude of the issue at Spurs, and the fact that the latter half of this season is incredibly important, surely that extra investment was necessary?
It’s not like there weren’t options available! Willian Jose of Real Sociedad was mentioned, as was the likes of Islam Slimani. Willian Jose was deemed to be too expensive with Real Sociedad demanding his release clause be triggered and the Slimani rumours just disappeared into thin air.
Surely, SURELY, Slimani would have been better than nobody? Yes he’s not a world beater, but he’ll likely offer more than an 18-year-old lad with a total of five minutes playing time to his name.
Speaking of Troy Parrott, it seems as though the only potential silver lining in all of this will be if this kid can step up to the plate. As I said, he hasn’t featured much for Spurs but he’s going to have to now, through sheer necessity.
If he gets a few games towards the back end of this season and possibly bags a few goals, he could save Spurs a pretty penny on a new forward in the summer. Jose says he’s not ready, but if were up to Jose Harry Kane would still be going out on loan each season. He’s never been a big believer in youth, let’s be real.
Now though, Parrott has a fantastic opportunity to step up and prove to his boss that he IS ready! Can he do it? I’d love to see it!
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