Tottenham announced the starting lineup for the pre-season friendly match against Ryan City Salers at 8:30 p.m. on the 26th (Korea Standard Time) at Singapore International Stadium through the club’s official SNS account.
Tottenham’s pre-season friendly match against Leicester City, which was scheduled to be held in Bangkok, Thailand on the 23rd, has been canceled, and this match will be their second Asian tour match.
At that time, heavy rain poured on the stadium, causing several water puddles in the stadium, and game officials canceled the game, judging that they could not play due to concerns over injuries caused by water puddles and the seriousness of the stadium condition. Tottenham players also greeted their fans around the stadium, perhaps because of the regret of not being able to communicate with their fans through the game.
Coach Postecoglou formed a starting list offensive team with Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevsky, including Son Heung-min, in the match in eight days. The midfield was home to James Madison, Eve Bijima and Pape Sar.
The defense was composed of Destiny Udoji, Ben Davis, Christian Romero and Pedro Porro, and Guglielmo Vicario will defend the goal.
Manuel Solomon, Sergio Reguilon, Oliver Skipp and Jaffet Tanganga, who started against West Ham last time, will be on the bench, while Leicester City starter Pierre-Emil Hoivier will also be on the bench. Tanggui Ndombele, who coach Postecoglou evaluated as impressive, was also excluded from the list in this game.
Son Heung-min received attention when he was completely excluded from the list in his first preseason game against West Ham. Since arriving in Australia, Son Heung-min has been steadily training at the training ground, and many expected to play in friendly matches as he seemed as usual, signing autographs to Australian fans on Open Training Day, when the training was released to fans, but there was no name on the substitute list.
On the 17th, a day before the match, he attended a press conference with coach Postecoglou and even conducted an interview, leaving a bigger question about Son Heung-min’s exclusion from the list.
Coach Postecoglou said after the match that he had excluded Son Heung-min, saying, “I have only trained twice yet,” and Son Heung-min, who has been training steadily since the match against West Ham, will be on the starting list and play in his third preseason schedule.
In this match, Son Heung-min is expected to boost his sense by playing with players who are working together for the first time at Tottenham, such as Madison and Udoji. In particular, Madison is an ambitious player brought by Tottenham to reinforce the playmaker that has been lacking ahead of the next season, and it is expected that a lot of attention will be paid to how he will show his teamwork with Kane and Son Heung-min, who are on the offensive side, and create synergy.
Meanwhile, Son Heung-min directly mentioned last season’s sluggishness in an interview ahead of the Ryan City match, so even though it is a pre-season, a lot of attention is expected to be paid to whether Son Heung-min will play well.
Son Heung-min said in an interview, “It was really hard. I usually hide my pain. I didn’t want to say I was going to have surgery. “It may sound strange, but it’s okay when I don’t usually exercise, but when I enter the stadium, it affected all the movements, including turn movements, running, stopping, and shooting,” he recalled last season when he suffered from hernia.
The reason for delaying the operation was not to disappoint fans and the club’s expectations.” Son Heung-min said, “Maybe a lot of people wonder why I didn’t get surgery quickly. I felt every moment last season was difficult. “At that time, I didn’t want to disappoint all my colleagues, coaching staff, and fans,” he said. “Everyone is meaningful to me.” I had to take responsibility for every moment, whether it was good or bad, with or without pain. “I didn’t want to leave the team (with surgery) and disappoint people at a difficult moment because of this pain,” he confessed.
As for the current state, “It’s very refreshing now. I feel like I’ve become a new person. I’m working with physical therapy experts to get back to my best condition. I’m ready to move well now,” he said, strengthening his will to return to his best physical condition next season.
British media The Athletic also mentioned Son Heung-min’s interview and said, “He was a mess last season.” It’s hard to agree with the expression of mess, but Son Heung-min, who is fully healthy, can have a great impact on Tottenham’s 2023/24 season fortune, he said, adding that Son Heung-min’s physical condition can have a great impact on Tottenham’s performance next season.
Kane, who has become a hot topic due to rumors of a transfer to Bayern Munich, will once again play a pre-season game wearing the captain’s armband like the last West Ham match.
Kane seemed likely to transfer to Munich and stay at Tottenham until the last game, but recently, it has been reported that he has rejected Tottenham’s offer to renew his contract, making him more likely to transfer to Munich. 토토사이트먹튀
If Kane leaves the team for Munich after the pre-season, there will be only a few games left for Son Heung-min and Kane to work together, including this one.