Postecoglou must work out how to get Son to shine again

WHEN Tottenham faced tomorrow’s opponents Burnley in September, Ange Postecoglou’s starting XI more or less picked itself, but, as Spurs’ season has unravelled, the head coach has tinkered, leaving his best team far less clear today.

- Dan Kilpatrick

As Postecoglou aims to arrest a slump of four straight defeats, he has decisions all over the pitch, including at left-back, across the midfield and in the front three. But perhaps his biggest dilemma — short- and long-term — is how to get the best from Tottenham’s top-scorer, captain and talisman, Heung-min Son.

The Korean started the season quietly on the left wing but moved up front for Postecoglou’s fifth game in charge and exploded into form with a hat-trick in the 5-2 win over Burnley at Turf Moor.

Son went on to score eight goals in as many matches as Spurs’ central striker — including a double in the draw at Arsenal and one in the controversial win over Liverpool — and it was easy to wonder then if he was entering a new phase of his career as a deadly poacher, the heir apparent to Harry Kane.