Coach Pochettino, Who Sees his Former Student as his Enemy
Coach Pochettino, Who Sees his Former Student as his Enemy, Says “Son Heung-min is One of the Best in the EPL”
Coach Postekoglou "Son Heung-min was the one who scored against me in the 2015 Asian Cup"
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino showed caution over his 'old student' Son Heung-min (Tottenham), whom he meets as an enemy, calling him one of the best players in the English professional football Premier League (EPL).
According to Football London, coach Pochettino first joked, "I'm not a center back," when asked, "How will we stop Son Heung-min?" at a press conference held at the club's training ground in Surrey, England, on the 3rd (local time).
Coach Pochettino said, "Our team's center back must stop Son Heung-min.
We all know Son Heung-min," and added, "He is a fantastic player and one of the best players in the EPL." 스포츠토토
He added: "I hope Son Heung-min doesn't have a great night (in the game against us)."
Chelsea, led by coach Pochettino, will play an away game against Tottenham, played by Son Heung-min, in the 11th round of the 2023-2024 EPL at 5 a.m. Korean time on the 7th.
Coach Pochettino is also familiar to domestic fans as the leader who worked with Son Heung-min at Tottenham from 2014 to 2019.
After leaving Tottenham, he served as coach of French professional soccer team Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) from January 2021 to July of last year.
At Tottenham, he finished second in the UEFA Champions League in the 2018-2019 season, and at PSG, he won the league in the 2021-2022 season.
He took charge of Chelsea last May, about 11 months after leaving PSG, and returned to the EPL 3 years and 6 months after his Tottenham days in November 2019.
Tottenham and Chelsea are also rival teams based in London, England.
Regarding Harry Kane, a top goal scorer who was with Tottenham but recently transferred to Bayern Munich (Germany), he said, "Everyone has seen Tottenham's history with Kane, so the reality (without Kane) is really strange," and "He is a big player in Tottenham's history."
“It matters,” he said.
The situations of the two teams are conflicting.
While Tottenham is at the top of the league with 8 wins and 2 draws under coach Anzhi Postekoglou, Chelsea, which is said to be a prestigious club, is ranked 11th with 3 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses.
At the center of Tottenham's rise is Son Heung-min, who scored eight goals and ranked second in league scoring.
Coach Postekoglou mentioned the 2015 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup final and said he had known of Son Heung-min's scoring ability eight years ago.
Coach Postekoglou, who led the Australian national team to the Asian Cup in 2015, met with Korea in the final and won the championship with a 2-1 victory after a fierce overtime struggle.
At the time, Son Heung-min scored the equalizing goal in extra time in the second half when the team was down 0-1, sending the game into overtime.
“Son Heung-min scored against me in the 2015 Asian Cup,” said coach Postekoglou.
“There was no need to look for other evidence that he is a great goalscorer.”
Coach Postecoglou, who hired Son Heung-min as a front-line striker after Kane left, reflected, "The idea of bringing in a player who scored 25 to 30 goals in the first year (as Kane's replacement) in the transfer market was not realistic."
He added, "I've known Son Heung-min because I've been paying attention to him for a long time.
He's a great scorer and a smart player," and added, "He moves well.
He has the ability to press, and I love the characteristics that strikers show like that."
