Mauricio Pochettino has suggested Heung-Min Son could be left out of Tottenham’s starting line-up against Inter Milan, insisting the Korean’s fitness must be managed carefully.
Son played a starring role in Saturday’s 3-1 victory over London rivals Chelsea, scoring a stunning individual goal in the second half to seal the points for Spurs.
It was the 26-year-old’s first Premier League goal of a season that has been disrupted by his attendance of the Asian Games.
Son won a gold medal with South Korea at the tournament, earning exemption from mandatory military service in the process.
Since then, he has struggled to find fitness or his scoring touch, and Pochettino says Spurs must avoid pushing Son too hard in order to avoid further issues.
“We cannot forget what happened in the summer,” Pochettino said (via @BenPearceSpurs) in his press conference ahead of Wednesday’s crunch clash with Inter Milan in the Champions League.
“We cannot now say ‘he’s fit and we’re going to kill him again’. It’s so important how we’re going to manage him, to keep his form every time he’s going to play.”
Spurs must beat Inter to keep their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages alive, but they may have to do it without Son.
Thankfully, Pochettino has Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura as options to come into the attack.
