Gary Neville has admitted he has been proven wrong by Tottenham captain Son Heung-min. The Manchester United legend has changed his mind about the South Korea star, while Jamie Carragher has reserved special praise for goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Son has taken on the mantle as Tottenham’s main striker this season. The departure of Harry Kane has seen him take over as the No 9 for Ange Postecoglou, despite the presence of Brazil international Richarlison.
He has hit a rich vein of form since moving centrally, scoring eight Premier League goals already this season. Son had a goal disallowed for narrowly being offside when Spurs led 1-0 in Monday’s dramatic defeat to Chelsea.
That goal could have changed the game but VAR deemed the correct decision had been made on the field by the assistant referee. Son came close on a couple of occasions in the second half, even when Spurs were down to nine players, but was unable to make the telling difference.
But that doesn’t hide his impact so far this season. The 31-year-old has contributed to a seamless transition for Tottenham following Kane’s move to Bayern Munich.
Son had a difficult season last term, which saw Neville come to believe that his “legs had gone”. But, speaking in the build-up to Monday’s match, the former right-back admitted he had been proven wrong.
Neville said on Sky Sports: “How good is Son playing as a centre-forward? Honestly, a couple of years ago you were watching him and I thought his legs had gone.
“He’s just revitalised, back to his best, brilliant player, he’s thriving in that central role.”
Vicario put in a starring display against Chelsea despite ultimately conceding four goals. The £17.2million signing from Empoli made a string of fine saves and was also rapid off his line, with Spurs continuing to adopt a high line despite being reduced to nine men.
Carragher was full of praise for Tottenham’s approach and singled out the goalkeeper for praise. He said: “I think we are probably all watching it and thinking, this is mad.
“But it almost was genius. It’s okay looking at the scoreline now and yes, the goals came from that, but Tottenham kept them in the game for so long.
“I must say, the goalkeeper was absolutely sensational. You talk about the sweeper keeper, I have never seen anything like that.
“He’s been a revelation since he has come to Tottenham, and you couldn’t help it at some stage that you were almost willing Tottenham on with nine men to try and hang on and maybe nick something at the end.”
