Ange Postecoglou believes it is premature to write off out-of-form Tottenham captain Son Heung-min.
Son has only scored four goals for his club this season and just one from open-play in his last 12 appearances for Spurs.
The South Korea international struggled with a hamstring issue earlier in the campaign and has cut a frustrated figure at times since his return, but Postecoglou backed the 32-year-old to return to his best ahead of Thursday’s Premier League trip to Bournemouth.
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“I think there were questions about Mo (Salah) maybe a year or so ago,” Postecoglou pointed out.
“Go for it! It might help me if you write him off. I don’t get that sense. I still feel from a physical output and the quality he has and certainly from a mentality point of view, I haven’t seen it.
“What I do know is, from my own experience, the end comes pretty quickly. It’s not falling off a cliff, but you find with a lot of great players that all of a sudden it’s gone from bang to bang. It’s not a slow deterioration.
“I don’t see that in Sonny, I still think he’s got a hell of a lot of quality and from a physical standpoint, the way he looks after himself, I don’t see his abilities diminishing just due to the age factor at the moment. I don’t see that.
“You weigh up the output of it and he is not at the level so far this year that he has been in previous years but that’s a pretty high standard he’s had in the past. Can he get there this year? I still think he can. I think a lot of that is down to consistent game time.
“He’s had a bit of a disrupted start this year where’s he’s had a couple of setbacks where he hasn’t played regularly. I think with Sonny, the more regularly he plays the increase in that output.
“So, the answer is no, I don’t think so and I’d be wary about writing him off.”
Son had to be used through the middle in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at home to Fulham after Dominic Solanke was sidelined on the morning of the match with illness.
Solanke was set to return to training on Wednesday and will hope to be fit enough to make a first return to Bournemouth since his summer departure after 77 goals in 216 outings for the south coast club.
Postecoglou added: “He wanted to play on the weekend too but he couldn’t get out of his car, let alone run around pitch!
“We’ve got another 24 hours to game time and I know how closely connected he feels with Bournemouth because it was his way back to having the career he wanted.
“Through Bournemouth, he got a move here, got back in the England squad and all these kind of things. His journey of starting at some big clubs, not quite working out, Bournemouth were the ones who invested in him, worked with him.
“I’m sure he wants to do well. Not because he wants to hurt them, but because he wants to show them that everything they invested in him is appreciated.”
If January 1st, we’re in exactly the same position we are now with nine players out, I reckon we’d be doing something.
While Solanke should return at Vitality Stadium, Postecoglou will be without Guglielmo Vicario (ankle), Micky van de Ven (hamstring), Cristian Romero (toe), Rodrigo Bentancur (suspended), Wilson Odobert (hamstring), Mikey Moore (virus) and Richarlison (hamstring).
Archie Gray appears in contention to earn a first Premier League start, potentially in place of Pedro Porro at right-back and Dejan Kulusevski will return after being rested versus Fulham.
However, Postecoglou acknowledged unless Tottenham’s list of absentees improve, they may have to alter plans for the winter transfer window.
“January is a tricky one. I wouldn’t expect us to do too many significant things in January but if January 1st, we’re in exactly the same position we are now with nine players out, I reckon we’d be doing something,” Postecoglou confirmed.
