It would not be too harsh to suggest that Son Heung-min has had a sluggish start to the current season after the high standards he set for himself in his Golden Boot-winning Premier League campaign of 2021–22. There are tons of amazing sports betting sites you can check on our pages. Because of the World Cup, they are offering some of the best promotional offers that players have seen in a while.
The typically prolific forward is yet to score this season with six Premier League games remaining and one more in the Champions League. Before the evaluation becomes unduly negative, it must be noted that Son has a lot to be proud of, not just for his 23 goals in the league last season but also for his entire seven prior seasons with Tottenham.
Every forward will, after all, inevitably run through a similar drought (Spurs teammate Harry Kane famously appeared allergic to scoring in August previously). Even though Son isn’t scoring goals right now, he still has a lot to offer his team in other aspects, it must be mentioned.
So, knowing that his best player would eventually succeed, Tottenham manager Antonio Conte will continue to be patient with him. But the other man, who will be paying great attention to Son’s performances, does not have a lot of time. Paulo Bento, the coach of South Korea, will be keeping an eye on events just three months before the FIFA World Cup with a modicum of anxiety, if not considerable alarm.
It goes without saying that the Taegeuk Warriors will require their talismanic skipper to be operating at full capacity if they are to stand any hope of making it out of Group H and into the Round of 16. This is because they have been given difficult tests against Portugal, Uruguay, and Ghana. Having a player of Son’s caliber at their disposal can only be positive, but the downside is a possible unhealthy dependency on one player in particular.
Do South Korean choices for a Plan B therefore suffice?
First off, it’s important to keep in mind that despite his prodigious goal-scoring abilities, Son is not your typical out-and-out striker who acts as the center of the attack. Hwang Ui-jo, who recently joined Olympiakos on loan after being demoted to Ligue 2 with Bordeaux last season, typically fills that role for South Korea.
With 23 goals in Ligue 1 to his name over the previous two years, Hwang’s strike rate in France is healthy enough, as is his international tally of 16 goals from 47 matches. Who else is there since there are still questions about Hwang’s ability to lead the Taegeuk Warriors to victory on his own, particularly in a World Cup?
Bento’s options at No. 9 are extremely constrained, as has long been known. Even while the 24-year-old was playing in South Korea’s K League 2, the Portuguese coach consistently preferred Cho Gue-sung to be Hwang’s assistant. Cho has been a reliable scorer but hasn’t established himself outside of the domestic arena, in defense of both.
Joo Min-kyu continues to wait for his chance at the international level despite becoming the first local top scorer in the K League 1 in five years with his impressive 22-goal haul. Other striking options are either equally inexperienced like Kim Gun-hee and Cho Young-wook or have been completely ignored.
Which other areas of the field could perhaps offer a substitute match-winner to Son if the strikers don’t seem to be a good backup plan? Hwang Hee-chan of Wolves is the most likely choice because he also now competes in the Premier League.
Although he is yet to establish himself as a regular starter at Molineux, the 26-year-old has displayed glimmers of the offensive ability that helped him first become well-known alongside Erling Haaland and Takumi Minamino at Red Bull Salzburg.
While Nam Tae-hee, who started his professional career in France, can also offer a creative spark even though he is not the most illustrious name on the Taegeuk Warriors roster, Lee Jae-sung, who is currently in his second season playing in the Bundesliga for Mainz, is another member of Bento’s team who is based in Europe.
However, the front-runner for a true game-changer is probably midfielder Hwang In-beom, who is a little further back in the middle of the park.
His first international move took him to the MLS with the Vancouver Whitecaps, and after joining Rubin Kazan, he emerged as one of South Korea’s greatest prospects. However, recent difficulties with playing for a Russian team have caused him to go on to Olympiakos alongside Hwang Ui-jo.
However, the front-runner for a true game-changer is probably midfielder Hwang In-beom, who is a little further back in the middle of the park.
His first international move took him to the MLS with the Vancouver Whitecaps, and after joining Rubin Kazan, he emerged as one of South Korea’s greatest prospects. However, recent difficulties with playing for a Russian team have caused him to go on to Olympiakos alongside Hwang Ui-jo.
Still, it could be too much to ask of him to step up and replace Son should the need arise given that he is only 25 and is still adjusting to European football. However, it will never be able to replace a superstar performer.
There is definitely still time for Son to start scoring again before their opening match against Uruguay on November 24. South Korea may still need to hope that Plan A works out at the World Cup. If so, Plan B might just call for all of the aforementioned alternatives to work together to make up for the obviously top-notch quality that simply cannot be replicated on their own.
